In Kansas, where the dry grass sweeps over the prairie like crows, a café stands lonely on a small hill.  In the middle of nowhere, an elderly man and his middle-aged daughter, the café’s two best customers, enter the building as the sun starts to set.
              “Good evening, Riya,” the woman says to the waitress.
              “Good evening.”
              “What time is it, Angie?” the man interrupts.
              “Nine o’clock sharp.”
              “Where should I seat you two tonight?” the waitress asks Angie.
              “By the window is fine.  We can enjoy the scenery, Father, what do you think?”
              The man grunts in response.
              “Yes, by the window is fine,” the man’s daughter tells the waitress.
              After they sit down, the woman inspects the menu.  “How about a nice club sandwich, Father?”
              The man grunts again.
              “A club sandwich, I think, and a cup of coffee will do some good.”
              “Why do you always drink coffee, Angelina?” the man asks his daughter.
              Angelina looks up, startled.  “Why, you drink coffee just the same amount as I do!”
              “Yes, but I’m old now, I can drink whatever I want.”
              “Now, Father, you know that isn’t true.  You need to keep your health up.”
              “And for what?” the man replies sharply.
              “Now, now, Father,” Angelina sighs.
              The man grumbles.  “What time is it again?”
              “Nine-twenty.  Now what do you say we get two sandwiches, a cup of coffee and a bowl of tomato soup?”
              “Why only one cup of coffee?”
              “Father, you can drink the soup and I’ll drink the coffee.”
              “Coffee makes your teeth yellow,” the father mutters.
              “Excuse me?”
              “Nothing.  I said nothing.”
              “I’ll order now.  Riya!” the woman hollers.
              “Let me have a look at the menu.”
              “Why?”
              “Just let me have a look.”  The woman pushes the menu towards him and he slides his glasses on.  “What does this say?” he asks.
              “Two ninety-nine for a bowl of tomato soup.”
              “No, the one next to it, what does that say?”
              “Two thirty-nine for a bowl of Chicken Alfredo soup.”
              “I’ll take that instead,” the man says.
              “What?”
              “I said I’ll take that instead.”
              “But the tomato soup is so-”
              “Cheap?” the man retorts, “No.  I’m paying and I say I’ll have the Chicken Alfredo soup instead!”
              “Father, no need to raise your voice.  You can have whatever you want.  How about we pick one more item.  Dessert?  How about dessert, Father?  Does a slice of chocolate cake sound good?”
              “I hate chocolate.”
              “What?”
              “Nothing.  I said nothing.”
              The waitress comes again.  “Yes, Riya, we’ll have two club sandwiches, one cup of decaf with no sugar, a bowl of Chicken Alfredo soup, and one slice of chocolate cake.” Riya takes their order and leaves.
              “What time is it?”
              “Oh, for heaven’s sake, just take my watch!  It’s nine-forty-five.”  The man takes the watch and puts it on his wrist.  A candle sits on the edge of their table.  Its wax has melted almost completely off, and a sickly yellow glow lines the candleholder.  “Why do they have candles if they have lightbulbs?” the man asks.
              “You mean, why does the restaurant have candles?  For decoration.”
              “But they used the candle.”
              “I know.  Do you want to light it?”
              “No.”
              “Why not?  I think we’re allowed to.  Nobody cares.”
              “What makes you think nobody cares?  The wax will melt.”
              “We can just replace it with a new one.”
              “No, we can’t.”
              “Father, I’m trying to have fun here.  Don’t you want to have fun before it all ends?”
              “It’s ten.  It hasn’t ended yet.”
              “What?”
              “I said it’s ten.”
              “I know.  The food isn’t here yet.  Usually, they’re quicker than this.”
              The man stares out the window.  “Aren’t the stars pretty tonight?”
              “Yes, I noticed.  They’re wonderful!  You won’t get a night sky like this in New York, would you?”
              The man grunts.  Riya brings their food.  “Thank you, Riya,” the woman says.
“That’ll be 15 dollars and seventeen cents.”
              The man pulls out a ten dollar bill and eight ones.  “The rest is your tip.”
              “Thank you, sir.”  The waitress leaves with the money and the bill.
              The man stares out the window again.  “The stars are pretty.”
              “Of course they are, Father.  We’ve already discussed this.  Now have a bite of your sandwich.”
              The two silently eat for a while.  The man gazes out into the night.  “I think I’ve been sitting in this chair for too long.”
              “I know, Father.  Do you want me to ask for a cushion?”
              “No, I’d like to move somewhere else.”
              “Isn’t perfectly fine here?”
              “Yes, but we always sit here and it’s boring.”
              “It might be, but don’t you want to sit in the same place that you’ve known for a long time than venture out and buy a piece of furniture that you’ve never sat in, and find out that you don’t like it at all?”
              “But if you do like it, then it’s all for the better.”
              “Ah, so you’re just going to leave this one behind to go for the better one?”
              The man stares down at his empty bowl.  “I’m finished.”  He looks down at the watch on his wrist.  “It’s a quarter to eleven.”
              The woman says,” They say you have two months.”  The man stares down at the watch.
              “They say you have two to three months and that you should settle down soon.”
              “Haven’t we already settled down?”
              “You have to settle down.  With me.  You’ll be comfortable here.  With me.”
              “I’m already with you, aren’t I?”
              “But it would be better if you were closer to me.”
              “You don’t understand.”
              “I do.”
              “No, you don’t.”
              “I try.”
              “I don’t need you to try.  I need you to understand that you can’t understand this.  I want to see the stars from another point of view.”
              “You need to settle down.”
              “I’ve been sitting in this chair for too long.”
              “Do you need a cushion?”
              “No.  I need to move.”
              “You need to decide what you want to do for two months.”
              “I’ve already decided.”
              “Why do you want to leave?”
              “I don’t want to leave, I want to go.  Either I go there or somewhere else, it doesn’t matter, but I know I’ll have to go.”
              “Why can’t you go here?”
              “Because here is the same.  Here is the same as yesterday and today and tomorrow.  Here never changes.”
              “And you need a consistent life.”
              “No, I want a happy life.”  The man stands up slowly. 
              “What’s the matter?”
              “I’ve been sitting in this chair for too long and the stars look the same as yesterday.  I don’t think they look quite as pretty now.”
              “The stars always look the same here.”
              “I know.”
              “You need to settle down.”
              “It’s eleven.”
              “You need to sit down for two months.  Then you’ll be happy.  I promise.”
              “Let’s stop talking.”
              “Won’t you listen to me?”
              “Let’s go.”
              “The café closes at midnight!” the waitress yells.
              “Alright, we’ll go,” the woman says,” Did you enjoy your meal?”
              “It was a little late.”
              “I agree.  I’ll tell them to hurry up tomorrow.”
              “Let’s go to a different place to eat tomorrow.”
              “You need to settle down.”
              “It’s five minutes past eleven.”
              “Alright, we’ll go.”  The woman stands up with a shawl around her shoulders as she helps the man walk to the front entrance.  “Are you alright?” she asks when they’re outside.
              “I wish I could see the stars from a different place.”
              “You should get some rest, Father.”
              “It’s almost my time to go.”
              “Don’t say that.”
              “It’s almost time to go.  I need to move.”
              “You should get some rest.”
              The two walk down the hill slowly, as the landscape swallows them in black.
              “There’s nowhere to go,” the man says.
              “You could go home.”
              “It’s not my home.”
              The man and his daughter reach the bottom of the hill.  An owl swoops over them, letting out a shriek.
              “Are you sure you’re alright?” the woman asks her father.
              “I feel fine.  It’s just that, I want to see the stars from somewhere else tomorrow.”