Part Three

As we were leaving the Symes Hotel we peeked into the dining room and saw a waitress, a bartender and one lone customer sitting at the bar. They looked up at us, and then looked away again, no smiles, no hello. We decided it was time to get out of Dodge and we drove through what must be the "downtown" area, which was just an intersection. Itt had an apartment building that must have also been built in the 1800's. It was 2 stories high and about 4 or 5 units long. Each front door had a small roof and each unit had an overstuffed old armchair sitting outside. I knew exactly how it would smell, that musty, cabbage-y old dog sort of smell. Each chair was occupied by a person, and I use the term lightly because other than the toothless old man with rheumy eyes and hands that trembled as he waved to us, there was no movement. That was one corner, the other had an old video store with a Help Wanted sign in the window, hard to see what it was like on the inside with all the dirt that was encrusted on the glass and the old movie posters. The third corner was an empty lot, filled with old rusted cars and a shiny new motorcycle, with a shiny looking driver sitting on it. The fourth corner had what appeared to be an old garage and a sign that said "garage sale." I don't think the building was for sale, but everything else was. I have never seen such a jumble, and yes, there was even a kitchen sink. It was HUGE! There was clothes, furniture, tools, pictures, dishes, lamps, everything you could imagine. Now, this is true, hard as it is to believe. Steven was looking at tires (go figure) and I wandered to the back where there was a jumble of jewellery, and I'm always looking for vintage brooches so I was scrounging through a table of old things when I spotted a silver ring, just plain, with something engraved on one side. I looked closer, and I swear to God, it said "Shannon". I was really excited for a moment and I slipped it on to see if it would fit, and it slid right on my ring finger. And then. I couldn't. Get It Off. And I recalled all the horror books/movies that I had read, as well as Stephen King's short story: " Rock and Roll Heaven" and I panicked (ok, yes, my imagination is probably too vivid, even for a grown woman such as myself) and I wrenched it off and said to Steven: "Lets' GO." (he saw the ring too, it honestly happened.) I think I was "supposed" to wear that ring and apply for work in that video store. And you all know how Steven adores pawn shops and garage sales.....Oh Stephen King, you are the master of horror.