Cadence stared out the window of the New Hampshire diner
Cadence stared out the window of the New Hampshire diner and wondered why she was not heartbreakingly unhappy. The first snow was falling; the flakes melting the instant they touched the ground as if even they could not stand the thought of settling in a place this downtrodden. In reality her surroundings were not depressing. Some people found it majestic (and if she really thought about it Cadence was probably one of them). It was the mousy haired girl glaring into the parking lot as if she could will a different reality out of the salt and sand encrusted pavement that set the other customers in a depressing light. Cadence was 22 and terrified. She had fought mediocrity for as long as had understood its possibilities. Fought it subconsciously in her daily choices of what to eat for breakfast and which t-shirt to wear. Fought it consciously in the classes she took, the opinions she held and the books she read. But at this moment mediocrity seemed to chase her down with an overwhelming velocity. It was as if for 10 years Cadence had been standing still in the exact place it could find her, while thinking she was running away with such speed that she was invisible to it. When she was finally caught it slammed into her with the impact of a felled tree crashing into the overgrown forest floor. It bounced slightly, and hit again to reinforce its arrival.
