Thursday, August 9, 2018

incident at the border - 13. blow this town


by nick nelson

illustrated by konrad kraus and roy dismas

part thirteen of forty

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here





mary seemed distracted, staring out the window of the dunkin donuts and sipping her coffee and nibbling on an apple danish, as she and joe waited for johnny.

it occurred to joe that it was the first time he had ever been alone with a human female, except for his mother and his sisters.

of course they were not really “alone” as there were a few other people in the dunkin donuts, and a couple of people behind the counter.

suddenly mary looked over at joe, as if she was surprised he was there.

“what did you say your name was?” she asked joe.


“joe. joe smith.”

“oh, yeah, right. and what is your purpose, joe? why did we pick you up?”

“something about starting a new religion?”

“oh yeah, right, how could i forget?”

joe laughed uneasily. “well, i don’t know, i would have thought that starting a new religion was a little bit of a big deal. something that you would remember at least for a day.” he smiled at mary who did not smile back. “but, hey what do i know?”

“what you don’t know is johnny, who is always talking about starting new religions and all other kinds of new things.”

“oh.”


“and he usually ends up deciding to rob banks instead - or mom and pop stores.”

“oh. well - i was just trying to be helpful. i don’t really know much about new religions - or about robbing banks either.”

“what do you know, joe, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“not much, i guess.”:

mary laughed again, but in a more friendly way this time. “that’s all right, joe. nobody really knows anything. that’s why the world is the way it is. did you ever stop and think about that?”

joe had absolutely no idea what mary was talking about. “uh - no, not really/“


“look at this way. if anybody knew what was going on, people would just get up in the morning and they would know what they had to do and they would just do it. nobody would start new religions or rob convenience stores or write books or direct movies or sit around in cafes or donut shops arguing about stuff - they would just know what they had to do and they would just do it. make sense?”

“so do you want to start a new religion?” joe asked, just to be saying something.

mary leaned forward and looked joe in the eyes. “no, you know what i want to do?”

“what?”


“i want to start a whole new way of looking at the world - synthesizing and superseding all religions, all so-called science, all human perception, all human history. what do you think?”

“sounds like you must have some confidence in yourself.” joe wondered if anyone in the donut shop was overhearing their conversation. he glanced around, but it did not seem that anybody was, or if they were, they were not interested.

“i can see why johnny picked you up,” mary said. “you have a real innocent look about you, real polite, you don’t look like you want to laugh in peoiple’s faces or be somewhere else when people talk to you. the perfect face for starting a new religion - or a new way of looking at the world.”

“it’s just the way i am, i guess.”


mary looked out the window at the night. “i tell you what, joe. why don’t we blow this town? shake the dust of this hick town off our feet and head for the big city? just you and me, forget johnny.”

“the big city?” joe was bewildered. “but i thought this was the big city! i mean - it is in the opposite way from the country, that is why i am here.”

“ha ha! well, maybe it is not quite the country country, but it isn’t a real city either. no, i was thinking of heading for a real city, like omaha or chicago or even vancouver or tokyo.”

joe did not know what to answer.


“don’t worry about johnny, if that is what you are thinking. we were just about to go our separate ways anyway, and he can take care of himself. up to a point, anyway. so are you with me ?”

“all right.”

“that’s the spirit. come on, let’s get out of here before he gets back. we won’t have to waste time saying good-byes. because - .“ mary drained the last of her cup of coffee and brushed some donut crumbs off her pants - “ i hate good-byes.”


14. down to business




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