Pit Stop
while he waits
for new brakes
to be installed on his old Datsun 210
at Roy’s Tire and Automotive
in Cordell, Oklahoma,
he sits alone in a grimy
waiting room replete with
worn, wooden furniture and
coffee-stained carpet.
the only magazines
Roy has there are travel monthlies –
no Sports Illustrated;
no Time or Newsweek;
not even Field & Stream.
so after a few boring minutes
reluctantly he starts reading
a cover story on, of all things,
the Seychelles Islands.
before long he is
mesmerized unexpectedly
by the enchanting photographs
of white sandy beaches, turquoise
oceans, exotic people and
many other things
he has never seen.
he feels drawn
to the Seychelles
as if by a magnet;
a new horizon dawning in his mind, but
soon enough his new brakes
are installed and he pays what
he owes and leaves.
old Roy
with a faint smile on his face
watches him drive off:
past the Rexall drug store; left on Main,
in the general direction
of the East African coast.
– Jerry Dan Deutschendorf