Palouse Empire
an excerpt

Dreams

When the full moon hit 1925 on a cloudless night you could see like it was day, only darker. Plowman and I had decided to have ourselves the weekly cigarette. We turned on some Zepplin and lit up out on the porch. The light by the front door kind of blended out the stars so we turned it off and gazed up into the humbling abyss.
I was thinking of learning to play music, said Plow, you know, like, with an instrument.
Yeah, I’m learning to play guitar, I told him, But I suck, I think there is a moment when you suddenly don’t suck, cause’ I’m pretty sure there isn’t any middle ground, at least not with guitars anyway.
Cool, you know that song Crazy Train?
Ozzy?
Yeah, you know that one thing at the beginning that makes that sound like when you pull back a spring doorstop and let it go?
Yeah, I said as I tried to roll my R’s but failed miserably.
I want to play one of those but I don’t really know what they’re called, I don’t even know where I could find one, mabey Wal-Mart.
Yeah, probably cheaper there too.
Yeah, no shit, fuck Shop-Ko.
We silently watched the smoke from our cigarettes float skyward in thick clouds only to disperse in the light of the stars.