Female Inflation

The room looked very much like a number of college girls lived in it. The windows let in the late-morning sunlight, revealing tapestries hung from the walls, half a dozen articles of clothing left on the floor, and an empty wholesale box that formerly housed bags of Cheez-Its. Next to the windows were the four beds, stacked on top of each other in two bunks. A string of Christmas lights were hung up, emanating a soft, orange glow to the ceiling's perimeter.

Beth stared beyond the cash register, beyond the small dining area, out through the glass windows into the depths of the cool New England night. It was dark and alien, an infinite shroud broken only by the steady rhythm of the streetlamps that lined the small road out of town. The boredom was soul numbing. She could not for the life of her fathom why a Burger Wiz should be open so late at night, and who in their right mind would be hungry enough for one of their slimy grease pucks in the dead of night.