FL048
"ETERNAL RETURN"

DATELINE: THE HOLY CITY
(April 5, 2021)

Fellow passengers, it’s another beautiful day in the Limoverse, despite the fact that tax season is upon us. Time to raid the Limo for loose change and head over to the Coinstar at Stop & Shop! Maybe we’ll pick up some chicken for dinner while we’re there.

We leave the Limo idling by Target and weave through various supermarket vendors: gift card giveaways, warranty specialists, “low-cost or no-cost health insurance,” cell phones and cell phone accessories. Hark! A dark corridor: here lies our Coinstar. We drop a fistful of grimy pennies down the chute, then another, then another. A few staccato clinks turn to a deluge. Aha! Ahahahahaha! We are rich!

That’s when we realize the sound is actually hail and the chill in the room – we thought it was air conditioning – is coming off Bela Lugosi, who’s haggling with the guy selling Lightning to USB-C cords over by the claw game. “Why hast thou forsaken me?” he screams, gripping a handful of obsolete MacBook chargers and aux cables.

And then doth he make a whip of the cords and drive them all out of the Stop & Shop, and the discount sushi case, and the self-serve rotisserie chicken display; and pour out the Coinstar's money, and overthrow the tables, and herd us back into the Limo.

“This Stop & Shop shall be a grocery store, and you have turned it into a den of thieves!” he shouts from the red light on Atlantic.

“I’m so sorry guys, that got out of control. Hey, want to come over for dinner tonight? I’m right by Paisanos.”

We roll open the apartment door to find a room completely empty, except for a table set with candles and

Carrot soufflé tart
Deviled asparagus
Hot crossless buns

With a note: back in 3 days.