William LaChapelle

Cookie's Diner

Escaping the chaos of midday interstate traffic, Maggie left the freeway at the next opportunity, coincidentally leading to a small town she had seen the name of many times in her travels through but never visited, though she had often been curious. A brief grumble from her stomach insistently reminded her she was late for her own lunch, so she began scoping the signs sparsely placed along the edge of the road, obviously for the sake of hungry tourists passing through. The first place she spotted was a small diner, not much larger than a convenience store, its sign almost missable, with its red letters sun-faded to near invisibility on the peeling white background.