The Next 100 Words

Jennifer requested that the story from yesterday's 100 Word Challenge continue, so I've decided to try out the notion of continuing the story within that context - 100 words. So the Friday Haiku I had originally thought to do for today will have to wait. I am going to reprint the 100 Words from yesterday, here. So you don't have to link back. And, as it turns out, I am going to finish the whole story, today.

He walked into the cool dark of the corner bar, a refugee from the sapping heat and the Sun.
"What'll ya have?"
"Bud."
"Two Fifty"
He closed his eyes and let the cold beer wash down his throat.
"You out lookin'?"
"Yeah. Been poundin' the pavement for weeks. It's brutal."
"Want another?"
"Yeah."
"Hot out there, huh?"
"Shit ya! 'Specially when you're out in it all day. Last few days I've been in every store, factory and office building within ten blocks of here. I'm done."
"Nah, don't say that. You'll find somethin'. Just keep lookin'. It's a big city."



"Yeah, it's big city, alright. Big and hard."
"Sure, it's hard. Brick and stone, concrete and asphalt, the Sun and the heat - they make it hard. But there's a soft part to the city, too. The people. There's good people here, and they make a difference. That's why I know you'll find somethin'."
"Yeah, from your mouth to God's ear."
He finished his beer.
"Well, I gotta get goin', I guess. I'm not gonna find nuthin' sittin' here."
"Good luck."
"Thanks, man. Thanks."
"Here, have some mints. Big city or no, better not have beer on your breath."
"Yeah. Thanks."

Well, I was going to publish another 100 Words tomorrow, and then another the next day, but then I'd wind this up on Sunday and I don't want to do that because a lot of people don't blog on weekends - at least, my traffic goes WAY down on the weekends. So I'm going to finish the story today - in two more 100 Word sections. Again, without further ado ....

It was as if time had compressed, somehow; like the last couple of hours happened in minutes. Details lost, images blurred, phrases came to him out of sequence, out of context. But one. "Be here Monday", she had said. "Eight thirty, sharp", she had said.
"A job. I've got a job."
He fought back the tightness in his chest. He took a deep breath and let it out slow.
"Damn."
He walked for a while. He really didn't know where he was walking to - he just walked. And then he stopped. He smelled something. Familiar. He looked up. The bar.


He walked into the cool dark of the corner bar; in from the heat, and the Sun.
"Hey, you're back. What'll ya have?"
"Bud."
"Here ya go. On the house."
"Thanks."
"So, did ya find somethin'?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I did."
And he told him; about seeing the sign, about walking in and asking for an application, about how he got an interview right away, about how he seemed to hit it off with the lady in the interview.
"So what did it for ya? How'd ya get the job?"
"You know? I think she liked the smell of my breath."

Have a great weekend. Everybody.