Porches (Girl on the Porch)
The road the trail came out to, looked to be unmaintained. Sun baked weeds reached up through the cracked pavement, where they wilted, tasting the fate of their endeavor. The surface of the lane was crumbling, and crawling vines stretched out from the shoulders, hoping to reach the other side before being died by the sun. To the right the ribbon of blacktop went downhill toward a landscape occupied by other travelers. To the left the road inclined. There were houses along the climb, old and decayed, begging for new life, and a large grove of trees near the crest of the ascent. “Come with us.” There were three others, two men and a woman. Lucas was the one who spoke. It would be him that would utter the invitation. The others didn’t seem to have permission to speak. I had met the three of them along the trail. Lucas couldn’t say enough about the things he owned, the places he’d been, and the things he’d acco...
