A Night to Forget

The fluorescent lights flicker above me in perfect timing, as if it were conducting a hidden song so hypnotizing, I didn’t even notice the middle-aged waitress impatiently asking me if I was ready to order. My attention quickly focused on her dishevelled uniform and mousey blonde hair escaping the single hair band that rest carefully on her right shoulder. Her tired and annoyed expression made me anxious.

“Just a coffee, and tonight’s chef special please.” I tried to order with a smile, hoping my forced kindness would be contagious. Instead, she rolled her eyes as she heated a new batch of coffee. The sounds of boiling coffee were not enough to distract me from her twisted face, I could tell she wanted to scream or cry. Either way her obvious unhappiness was depressing.

I looked around my surrounding, it felt dark and empty, despite the loud sounds and people scattered throughout the dimly lit diner. The cook seemed to be disconnected from the world, staring blankly at the grease covered walls while the pan sizzled beneath him, the smell of burned meat lingered in the air which no one seemed to notice but myself. I turned next to me and mustered a smile towards the elderly man staring at his bowl of soup. I coughed under my breath for his attention and said my hellos, he grunted at me, his eyes never left the untouched meal.

The playful screams and shouts of young children pierced my ears, surprised I had not heard it before I turn around and notice two young boys fighting over a toy figure at the booth not too far away. They seemed to have their mothers’ features, thin brown hair that shaped their face with a slight curve at the end, green eyes and an almost stick like body shape. It was hard to see the fathers face, he had curly brown hair and glasses that seemed to not rest on his face properly. They both looked tired and impatient. Despite their children jumping on the table and arguing their eyesight never left each other’s, their stare seemed almost menacing and became uncomfortable to look at them for too long.

I look at the counter in front of me trying to ignore the anxiety filling my soul, this place gave me the creeps and I don’t even remember why or how I’m here. My mind wanders back to the sounds, the flickering lights, the sizzling pan, the grunts and groans of the adults and the screams and cries of the children. I became so emersed in the almost symphonic sounds I barely noticed my coffee and cake be placed in front of me. The look of the cake was the best thing about this place, it felt almost sinful to eat. As I looked at the soft chocolate cake with glistening icing the sounds seem to get louder, almost deafening.

Suddenly, the sounds stop.

I look up and notice this place had changed. The lights no longer had power to even flicker, the place was empty with not a soul in sight, broken chairs and plates coated the floor, the dust and cobwebs made it suffocating, and the quietness that filled the room felt almost more drowning than the sounds that once filled the depressing diner. I felt confused and disoriented, but also strangely calm. I took a deep breath, the musty air brought me a certain peaceful feeling. I look down and grab the fork that was surprisingly clean and untouched by dust unlike the rest of the place I sat in the centre of and took a bite of the most delicious chocolate cake I have ever tasted. Leaving a smile that I for once, didn’t have to force.

By Kalina Davis