NINETEEN - Plateau's Edge Diner

Arous opened the door of the diner. The ringing bell startled her but no one at the bar stirred. She stumbled to a booth and plopped down. She propped her head up with her hands. She felt drained, weak. She could almost feel energy pouring out of her as if through a sieve. Her eyes closed.

A proprietress slammed water down in front of her.

“What you want?” then she paused. “Honey, you don’t look so good.”

“Can you tell me where I can get cleaned up?”

“Through that swinging door. Ladies on the left.”



Arous stood up, righted herself like a drunken Desperado from the Sticks just long enough to swagger to the swinging doors before banging into them. It was sheer momentum that got her to the bathroom door. She wedged herself between the door frame and the door and used the rest of her momentum to fall into the bathroom

She pulled herself up to the sink. Her hands shook under the heat activated faucet. She splashed water on her face and neck and up her arms. It had a strange rusty smell and tasted of sharp metal. Water had never felt so good. It sent a strange tingling feeling through her body.

“I don’t understand . . . ”



“If she’ll listen, tell her, the Mist is in the water, tell her that’s her way to connect to her Source, tell her -”

“She’s already blocked me Miguel.”

“She’s missing her Source already.”

“She doesn’t care,” said Edlawit.

“Try harder!”



“Arous, it allows a connection to your Source. In the Bowl there is always water in the air so you are always connected even when the Diofe isn’t near he’s still present. It’s like blood in the body. It connects the members of the body to each other allowing them all to experience the breath. The breath is their source. The Mist is in the water, it connects you to your Source, the Diofe.”

“Edwi?”

“Yes.”

“How are you here? I didn’t think of you. I didn’t let you.”

“You splashed the water and thought of the Bowl and how you missed it. I wedge all of myself into that tiny little crack but, unless you help me, I’m not strong enough to-”.



There was a loud knock at the door.

“Honey, are you OK in there?”

“Yeah,” said Arous. “I want something to eat.”

“Well, wait till you’re out of the bathroom. Sheesh.”



“You don’t get out of Kansas much, do you?”

“What?”

Arous had asked “what is that?” for every picture on the sticky menu.

“Where you from?”

“Uh,” said Arous.

“Right, every other person that comes in here is from the land of Uh. Why’d I expect any different from you? Why don’t I just pick something for you? I know, no meat.”

“Yes, thank you. Oh, yeah, and a big glass of water.”

“You already got that right in front of you.”



Arous watched the proprietress walk back to the counter to flirt with the Desperado’s stationed there. That’s when Arous saw her. The Momo had been watching her. Her eyes lit up when Arous made eye-contact with her. Her coat should’ve been silken but instead it was matted and dull.

“What are you looking at?” the proprietress said to the Momo.

“You know, they’re trying to get rights for these Momos in The City?” said one of the Desperados to the proprietress.

“Fancy that day,” the proprietress said and held up the Momo’s arm and indicated the metal bracelets.

“She’s got two more around her ankles. All I got to do is say ‘Freeze’ and these things stop her right where she is. This one ain’t going nowhere for no rights.” A few Desperados at the bar laughed. Two sitting at a booth in the corner didn’t.