December, 1996.

You lived in a small town called Halvard, that resided just a half hour drive out of Minneapolis. It was one of those towns you’d pass by on a road trip without a second glance; occasionally stop at the motel if you were desperate. But you had lived there your whole life.

You owned a diner that sat on the side of the main highway—built in the late 1940s and only received some minor renovations in the 80s to keep the place up and running. It had the red and white checker tile, the soft booths, and the Coca Cola sign on the wall that was a staple of its original time. You had bought the place for some peace, and for the most part you got it, except for the occasional strange customer.

The truth was that Halvard was nowhere near the most moral place to live. Full of laundromats that somehow stayed open without any customers themselves, a police force that had a suspicious level of incompetence, and whispers in alleyways.

The men that stayed in the Sunset Motel always had a certain look to them. Big coats, and shifty eyes that screamed they had something to hide. It wasn’t a shock to you anymore. Your father had been arrested when you were small in the 70s for the exchange of illegal drugs, and you hadn’t spoken since.

So when a man with shaggy black hair and a big coat entered an hour before closing, you assumed correctly that he must be one of the men in these ‘groups’ that were staying at the motel this week. His hair was dusted white from the light falling snow outside. He had those deep purple circles under his eyes, that were familiar to you. He took a seat at the counter, putting his pack of cigarettes down loosely so he could examine the menu.

“Do you do breakfast even when it’s late?” he asked when you approached him with your little notepad and apron. “I want to get those pancakes with the whip cream smiley face on it. The one they have in the picture there,” he said, tapping on the menu image. He kept checking over his shoulder, as if he was waiting for the pin to drop and the door to slam open.