He turned the sign around. From the inside it read OPEN but from the outside it read CLOSED.

There weren't many customers. So they wouldn't mind. And Chip. Well. Old Chip would cut him some slack if he were here.

Steve had to go. That tune had burrowed itself deep into his...

After establishing a routine... Jack developed his routine further.

Now he spent most of his days between two activities. Staring out his window and walking around aimlessly.

The two activities were interluded with a session at the gym.

Jack could blend in for the most part so long as he wore a hoodie....

Most things would arrive in two days. Crazy he thought, how the cafe needed constant influx of supplies. Otherwise the place couldn't run.

Kind of like his own body. He had to keep breathing. Oxygen. Every breath. Didn't matter how many breaths he had taken in his life before. If he...

Jack felt especially lonely that night.

He hadn't talked to anyone he knew in four weeks. Almost a month now.

At first it was nice. A relief from his past life. Breathing room.

But now he longed to talk to somebody. Only he didn't want to talk to someone from his actual life....

She was at a  gas station called Chip's. Out in the middle of nowhere with nothing else around.

Imogen Howe was pleasantly surprised to fill her car up at gas station that didn't belong to a franchise. She couldn't remember the last time she used any station other than Marathon,...

Because she coudln't find any info on  Spacecity , she wrote about it in her  notebook . Simple statements like "Spacecity... what is it. What do people do up there. Did people really live up in space for that long?"

That's what  Imogen Howe did when she couldn't find information to...

"Imogen what happened to that cafe? It had so much promise. I remember. This was years ago. I visited. And now I hear you're working a regular job. What happened?"

"It was really. really hard to run a cafe."

"Mmm. I bet. But I thought you had a knack for it. The...

When he woke up it was quiet. His son must be out of the house he thought.

By now he'd gotten used to having Aaron around. They spent only a few hours awake at the same time. But the house felt more whole with his own kind bopping around. He was...

"We broke our promise to you, boy scout." Aaron gulped yellow lager into his mouth. Alan could see the beer pour in. Aaron was the only person who drank beer without the can touching his lips. "We went out. To get these." Aaron said while pointing to a cluster of ...

Tonight she was alone. The stillness was heavy.

Ashley was still out in Chicago. When they spoke, Imogen would be confused as to whether Ashley would be back for the new year party. Sometimes Ashley would make it sound like she was definitely coming back. Sometimes she made it sound like...

"I gotta tell you guys something." Aaron said. The two waited. He took a long drink. They were on their third beers now at this bar. The plan was never to stay long. But it was decent enough. Plus they could smoke inside.

"I don't think I'm going back." Aaron gave...

Alan wondered if anyone else in town was thinking of calling in. He wondered if they might spill the beans that Jack was in  town . Hiding.

The windshield wipers pushed the snow that had accumulated while he sat inside off. The wiper did this twice more before Alan hit the...