A Town Called Nowhere

Ake 101

Who is Ake? It's a simple question and a complicated answer. Ake is well known almost everywhere. Everywhere in Nowhere, that is. He is the man who used to be mayor but now spends his time planting flowers and reminiscing about the good old days. We all know those men. He's not good, per se, but he's not bad. Life is rarely that simple. 

Ake wakes at four in the morning, every morning, to go downstairs and move his car before the idiot police officer who lives beneath him wakes and gives him a ticket. His car is old and rusted, but he loves it anyways because it reminds him of the days where he could creep down the apartment complex stairs without wincing in pain. His back, he is convinced, hates him. 

Akes's technically retired, but he tries to keep busy. He is a man who believes in routine. He goes to the same cafe every afternoon for lunch but has only ever ordered the same sandwich. If he's feeling adventurous, he'll put creamer in his coffee. Then he goes back home and tends to his garden.

Every other week, Ake goes to the community center to watch the kids play soccer/baseball/hockey. The game he watches always depends on the time of year. His wife used to hate that he couldn't decide which sport he liked. But it doesn't matter, now. She left a long time ago. He isn't remotely sad about it, either, because sometimes he manages to forget why. 

When Ake's wife left, he began to try to forget. He's gotten quite good at it now. Practice makes perfect, he knows. Forgetting, just like everything else, can be learned and improved upon. 

When those who cannot forget like Ake want to never remember something again, they go to the pub and drown their sorrows. Ake always likes to stop by the pub- the Pit, the locals like to call it, although he never does- and get a beer or two before the day's done. Just because he can forget doesn't mean he likes some help. 

Ake always goes to bed at nine o'clock sharp. He doesn't believe in watching television or movies. Instead, he reads a chapter a night of a mystery novel. 

No one has heard of Ake. Everyone has heard of him. He is the former mayor and the current drunk.