The Dream Trotters

Chapter 4

Drip. Drip. The weather hesitated for a moment, as if choosing whether to cap off the beautiful day with a peaceful night, or to drench the small town of Colfax, Idaho, with more precipitation than anyone definitely wanted.  Apparently, the weather made up its mind, and the rain came down in torrents. It pounded on the roof of the local Denny's, as if asking to enter, and join the party. Sitting in the refuge of the restaurant, was Eugene.  Eugene was just a mailman. He was nothing special, and his parents had told him that since he was little. He could remember sitting on the counter in his mother’s run down kitchen, at age seven.

“Now Eugenie, I love you for who you are.  Now matter how boring, average or ugly you may be.  We aren’t a very perfect family, but we’ve got each other,” said his mother to him, while pressing a wet washcloth to his black eye.  That morning, he had been bullied at school.  Eugene, had never been the most graceful of children, and was constantly clumsily bumping into people or dropping things; and bullies don’t care for people who use the word, “sorry”.  The words of his mother were definitely not the most comforting, for she had been brought up in a broken home were insults were more common than compliments.  She was a big woman, with a large heart and even larger hair.  Yet she wasn’t here anymore.  Eugene’s mother had died on his thirteenth birthday, from a stroke.

Currently, he sat at a greasy table, waiting for a waiter to come by. The stereotypical brown booth and depressing wallpaper in the Denny's restaurant comforted him. The dinginess made him feel at home, because his outside was much alike to Denny's inside.  He wasn’t proud of his appearance, which consisted of thin blonde hair, which he always wore parted, large blue eyes and a little more body mass than he wanted.  He had the weight of a man who had given up.

"Hello sugar, what can I do you for?" said a waiter who definitely wasn't southern, and was composed of more make-up than skin.

"The Grand Slam please," Eugene, muttered.

"Coming right up, sweet cheeks,” she replied, and trotted right back to the swinging door which was marked with the label, “kitchen”.  

Even though it was past nine, breakfast was available any time of day at this joint. Eugene had been eating at this restaurant for forever. He remembered all the time he had spent with his fiancé here, sitting in the same, exact booth. She was the only thing that had every made him feel like he was something. Delivering mail after the regular work time, he tripped as knocked on her door, and hit his head on the entryway. Waking, he found a beautiful, petite woman tending to the massive bruise on his head.  They had taken their relationship almost all the way to marriage, when she suddenly packed her bags and moved away.

So here Eugene sat, still taking himself out on a date, every Wednesday and Friday night.  Just as the waiter returned with his order, a man stormed into the restaurant. Stormed was definitely the correct way to describe it, for with his heavy raincoat and shaggy, brown hair, he brought in much of the storm with him. His face was ragged, and you could tell he had been through a lot in his lifetime. Even though he looked desolate and lonely, Eugene envied him.  The way the man’s devilish midnight locks lay over his face was dashing, though a bit dramatic.  

The mailman had never even left his hometown, and probably never would. And the man was handsome, while Eugene with his slightly paunchy figure and bulldog face, would never even be considered cute.  Then the man opened his eyes, and Eugene was surprised. They were a fascinating mix of gold, blue, green, brown and about any color he could name.  He sat at a table only a couple of feet away from Eugene, and a waiter quickly bustled over to him. She seemed nervous, but her job was to take orders, and he obviously had one.

"Can I get you some coffee sir?" said the waiter, with obvious uncertainty.

The man quivered at the word coffee, and shook his head violently, to signify no. The waiter seemed at a loss, but soon noticed him pointing at the hot chocolate on the menu.

"I'll be back with your drink in a minute!" she said, as cheerfully as possible, and quickly ran off, obviously wanting to escape back to the kitchen. Eugene couldn't blame her; there was something about this man's eyes that could depress a person.  The outsider looked at the mailman, and suddenly Eugene found himself sleepy. Thankfully, the waitress came back with his hot chocolate, and Eugene lost eye contact with the stranger. Searching for something to be interested in, Eugene noticed the television in the corner of the room.

"Have you seen this man? Currently escaped from a high security prison, Thomas Watson is a dangerous criminal. Not only was he involved with the murder of five children, but he also killed his wife and father, before he was incarcerated." said the overenthusiastic reporter.

The screen flashed with an image of a man, with shaggy brown hair and blue eyes. Following Eugene's sightline, the man sitting across from him glanced at the television.  Suddenly, the mailman noticed something. The man in the picture had an uncanny resemblance to the dark figure sitting across from him; they could be twins.  The man looked at the mailman and Eugene saw the pain and suffering in his eyes. He was about to cry for help, but found himself unable to condemn a man.  He closed his mouth, and nodded to the stranger, signifying that he would not turn him in.  With gratitude in his eyes, the man stood up, left a five-dollar bill on the table, and sneaked right back out of the restaurant. Eugene just sat there, wondering if that man was the most interesting thing that would ever happen to him. Then Eugene continued eating his midnight breakfast.