The Brightness Index by Grace Mattioli

Author:Grace Mattioli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction, short stories, literary fiction, arizona, humorous fiction
Publisher: Grace Mattioli

Crazy Ted: A Love Story

When Crazy Ted saw the moon rise over the mountains just outside the Grand Canyon, he knew he was right where he was supposed to be. The great white moon mesmerized him and it looked close enough to reach out and touch. In his twenty-two years of living, he’d always felt like he was in the wrong place, but at that moment, for the first time in his life, he felt at home. He had to live here somehow. He was determined to find a place to live and a job. A job would be first because he could always sleep in his VW bus until he found a proper place to live.

On his first day there, he got the local newspaper and found a help-wanted ad for a gas station attendant. He’d pumped gas back in his hometown in Pennsylvania, so he had experience. He drove to the gas station, where he found an old man with a straw hat and suspenders sitting outside. “Hey there. I’m Ted and I came to apply for the attendant job.” Back then, his name was Ted, not Crazy Ted. Back then, he wasn’t a cowboy. He was just a young man with long hair and worn-out jeans. The man at the gas station took one look at him and told him the position had been filled. Crazy Ted wasn’t bothered by the rejection. He just got back into his bus and drove on. As he drove, he didn’t see much in terms of prospective employers, or businesses, or anything other than open space and mountains.

He pulled over and took his map out and found what appeared to be the biggest place around—a city called Williams. He headed there, and on the way, he decided that he wouldn’t get the newspaper to see what jobs were available. He’d just go into every business establishment he saw and ask them if they needed help. He knew they’d look at him weird, but he didn’t expect the looks to be as weird as they were. He didn’t care though. He’d take on all the weird looks in the world to get a job here.

He’d gone to nearly every place in Williams and after two days of rejections and weird looks, he thought he should head to Flagstaff. It was only about twenty miles east of Williams, although it would be twenty miles further from where he wanted to live. He felt discouraged for a second, but he brushed it away and decided to go for a cup of coffee. There was nothing a good cup of joe couldn’t fix.

He found some greasy spoon just off the main highway. From the outside the place looked in need of upkeep and from the inside it looked worse. It was darkly lit and one of the lights was flickering when he entered and when he closed the door behind him, it went off. He thought that the dim lighting may have been intentional, as

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