Bardstown

A Story by Nicholas

The blacktop was cracked and showed time. I sat in my pea coat, silent and still, smoking a cigarette, watching as the white paper turn black and flake away in the wind. Snow began to fall as I breathed in the smoke and breathed out watching a mixture of the smoke, and my compensating breath slowly wisps away into the night.

The parking lot in which I stood use to bustle with activity, it belonged to a popular restaurant that feed the few elite to come through town. Those who weren’t counted among those elite those few waited outside the door for small tables, or made reservations months in advance. It was the hub of the community, and in turn the surrounding businesses flourished.

It was when the elite moved on, and the lines outside got shorter when the business failed. In turn the surrounding shops moved on with it. The remnants of the buildings and abandoned lots are all that remained, but tonight was the night it seemed to shine as it once did, the ruble shone bright against the ground.

As I stood in the lot, basking in the ruble, I saw her. In the night she seemed to glow, rays of dim light shined around her. Under her feet, the blacktop mended, and shined as if it was just poured. I started walking towards her, dropping my cigarette on half-finished on the cracked lot. As I got closer, she shown brighter, and the blacktop further repaired itself. I got within arm’s length when she half smiled and shied away from me. I placed my hands on her hips, and she turned back. Her eyes where big and brown, and her hair shown brighter as brightly as she did. I smiled back at her and leaned in, and pressed my lips against hers. I felt warmth fill me from my feet up.

I pulled away and saw the lot restored to its original look and shine, the buildings were no longer desserted. The whole street was restored to its original glory. I looked back and she was giggling shyly.

I went to kiss her again, but she seemed to slip from my hands. I opened my eyes and she was disappearing into the air, she floated away before diluting into nothing. As she did, the building turned back into ruble, and the glow of everything went away. The blacktop began to crack again and show age, nothing was as it was seconds earlier.

I looked down and found my cigarette, still burning. I picked it up, and drew on it to start the burn up to what it was. I looked again and saw much of the same.

As I drove away, I saw her again walking by the sidewalk. She waved, before disappearing again into the night. The snow subsided, as I left, and I hoped it would come back. As she always seems to leave when the last snow flake lands, and melts away.