The waitress smiled and turned with a menu in hand and marched toward the opposite side of the room. Arna, not knowing what else to do, followed behind her. So, is this heaven or hell, she thought as she passed the other diners who were so involved with each other and their meals that not one of them looked up as she passed by. The waitress stopped next to a corner booth turned and waited for Arna to catch up. Continuing to play along, Arna slowly slid into the red leather booth, taking the laminated double-sided menu from the waitress' hand.
"Can I start you off with something to drink?"
This was insanity, that's it! Arna had gone mad and this was all was some sort of drug-induced hysteria. The world hadn't come to an end, she wasn't in this diner and as soon as the drug wore off she'd be able to explain all of this.
"Ma'am, are you alright?"
Arna looked up into the gray eyes of the silver haired woman dressed in a ridiculous red and white stripped apron and couldn't help but burst into laughter. Come Arna, she thought to herself, you can be a little more creative than that, your a writer afterall. Why not have the waitress in some crazy clown getup, but a standard red and white apron? The woman, confused looked around to see what could possibly be so funny. Seeing nothing she placed her hands on her hips and her smile was replaced with a look of irritated pity.
"Take a look at the menu and I'll come back in a minute."
Arna continued to laugh for a few more seconds until she felt tears on her face. She grabbed a napkin, it was real, and dabbed her face but the tears kept coming followed by shaking and wailing from somewhere in the room. It scared her, she hadn't heard a sound like that in all her life. It was a screech that seemed to pierce the room. Looking around at the other diners and wondering what or who could make such an awful noise, suddenly she turned and saw the reflection in the window of a woman who's face was contorted and wet and obviously in pain. It was then that she realized it was her. The waitress rushed back over with a glass of water setting it on the table. Arna wondered why people always offered you water in times of distress. Did it possess some magical or medicinal powers that could take away pain, grief, disappointment? Would one swallow erase tragedy and heal bumps and bruises?
"Please ma'am, drink some water. It'll be okay. Calm down, you're disturbing the other diners."
Arna grabbed the glass, hand shaking and slowly brought it to her lips. Tasting the water she thought how real this delusion was. She'd never been able to eat or drink in any of her dreams before. She made a mental note to ask her caregivers the name of that drug. The water was ice cold and it felt so good. her nerves began to settle and she dreaded coming out of this whatever it was that she was in.
"I'm sorry, uh, can I have a bacon cheese burger and fries with guacomole and a large chocolate shake, please."
If she was dreaming she might as well dream big. None of this was real, even the near 2,000 calories she was about to eat was all in her head, so, she might as well go along for the ride. Besides, it beat what she had dreamed earlier, that the world had come to an end. Wow, what a trip.
