Fugue #117

- I’ll pick you up at 8. We can do the loop.
- I hate the loop.
- So do I.

But it’s what we do. Saturday night, cars drive into downtown: The county seat, the middle of everything, the middle of nowhere - population 3,249. From the state highway, they turn at the only stop light in the county, drive past the coin-op car wash and the grocery, cross the bridge and the railroad tracks, and pull up to the stop sign at Main Street.

Here’s the loop: Take a right onto Main Street, drive two blocks west to the old filling station, make a u-turn. Drive two blocks east to the intersection where you started, take a right at the bank. Drive two blocks south to the post office, make a u-turn. Drive two blocks north to the intersection where you started, take a left onto Main Street and repeat. For hours.

Oh, and keep your windows open, for yelling and flirting (the same thing, usually). Stop if you want to, park in front of the bank or the movie theater. Get out, switch cars. Keep going.

- It’s what we do.