This City Desert Makes You Feel So Cold

Here is a full moon photo from a few years ago. I doubt that the moon looks much different than that tonight.

Okay, kids. It's back to my writing exercise. I had a crazy busy afternoon/evening, but at least my new push mower is assembled and my front yard is mowed and I'm done giving plasma for the week. Hooray! Now, for the very rough continual writing exercise:

He told her there were a bunch of whores in San Francisco, but he drew out the O, so it sounded more like whooooores. She politely smiled and nodded and he didn't seem to notice her eyes had glazed over. When he picked her up, she had made a big point to assure him that her people were waiting for her in San Francisco. She thought that if he knew there were family who would notice if she disappeared, he would be less likely to chop her into pieces and bury her in his backyard. She was delusional.

After the last ride, she promised herself she wouldn't hitch anymore, but she was afraid she would miss her bus and she couldn't stand being in Santa Rosa another minute. The last ride, where the guy had seemed very normal and respectable, wearing a suit, with his hair parted on the side like a Lutheran minister. She sat next to him and felt him get more and more upset, every single one of his muscles tightened up and his hands were white on the wheel. She'd never felt anyone hate her so hard before. "Excuse, me," she said, but he ignored her and kept driving, even picking up speed. "Um. Hey, I think I'll just get out here, thanks," she said gesturing to the side of the road next to an open field. He didn't acknowledge her. She had one hand on the door handle and the other held her duffle bag. She was prepared to jump from the moving car if she had to. She yelled, "Let me out here. NOW!" He still didn't look at her, but he slowed the vehicle to a stop and she jumped out.

This guy was the opposite of the last one. He wore a gas station attendant shirt with the name "Roy" embroidered on the pocket. He was horribly chatty, but seemed friendly and harmless. "So, you know. If you don't got anyplace to go, you could always stay here in Santa Rosa. I got a little line of gold I'm working. I got a trailer for me and an extra one too where you could live. It wouldn't be sexual or nuthin'. I just need a woman to cook and clean for me." She had a hard time keeping a straight face when she thanked him anyway and reminded him that her family was waiting for her in San Francisco. If she wanted to be someone's maid and live in a trailer, she could have stayed in Iowa and saved herself the trouble of moving.

He dropped her off at the bus station downtown. She had a little time to kill before her bus left, so she walked around as much as she could without crossing the lines of the movie set. She was curious as to which famous actors might be across the street. She wondered if she ever saw the movie when it came out, would she remember just how alone and awkward and scared she felt right at that moment.