A Small Town in Between

Nestled between a major freeway and lakeside tourist attraction is a small town. It is cut down
the middle by a smaller, secondary highway, which is lined with a variety of buildings. The sidewalk that follows the road is comprised of a mesmerizing pattern of bricks, with planters of neglected trees and shrubs along the way. The side streets are narrow and cracked, but there is always just enough room for cars to park on either side of the road while permitting tight, two-way traffic to flow.

If any of the drivers took the opportunity to look around while passing through, they might
discover a small German deli with impeccable Schnitzel burgers. This is quite a hit with the youth of the area, who swarm in from the humble school across the road during the lunch hour. Off to the side there's a simple municipal museum run out of an train car. Volunteers dutifully open and close the operation each weekday, though the patronage is lacking at best. Further down the road sits a small mini mart selling the oddest assortment of brand-name goods at inflated prices. The posters in the windows are all faded, and the bright green stripe running the entire length of the structure is chipped and weather stained. No one is quite sure how this meager operation stays afloat, but someone is always willing to pay for a close convenience.

Across the road is a small park, with a playground of twisted, contorted metal only appealing to
the children with enough imagination to see it as something else. The bars are red and grimy from the rust and rain, and if you're not careful there's a good chance you'll get a sliver from one of the few remaining flecks of paint. Swallowed in the grass near by lays a lonely bench alongside a checkerboard of stone. The large, 2-foot-tall chess pieces had long since been vandalized and stolen. Competitive matches in the summer afternoon remain a memory of the people who were old enough to recall when the town still held its annual parade.

At the end of this stretch of street lays the climax of the experience for passers-through – a
single stop light. To the left leads into a silent residential area, ahead a restaurant that perpetually changes ownership and branding, and to the right the highway continues on to something of the more enticing scenery. The light has a protected right-hand arrow for turning, which strikes the locals asrather odd.