The abandoned hat stands beside an enormous pair of boots, behind a chain-link fence. Someone destroyed part of the fence. I take my boyfriend’s hand and step over the crushed wire. The enclosure is full of decrepit remnants of an earlier time when 99 was the main drag. Folks stopped for gas and candy en route to Portland or Vancouver. Elvis once shot a movie here. I look at my boyfriend. He will soon go the way of the hat and boots. I’ll erect a fence to keep him out. But he’ll knock it down anyway, like he always does.
Leah Mueller has published several books with various small presses and has appeared in hundreds of publications. Find Leah online at www.leahmueller.org, on Twitter @leahsnapdragon, and on Instagram @msleahsnapdragon.