without further delay, here's more of the "Jude Saga," don't worry, i promise it won't turn into a sappy love-story that makes us all feel lonely and sad. oh yeah, i posted before this too about the new blog title, let me know what you think...

As he walked, a white Camaro was coming down the hill, far behind him, and to the driver, Jude was only a silhouette. The Camaro slowly approached the silhouette, pulling to the shoulder of the road, and Jude turned, hearing the hum of a motor in his ear. The car came to a stop next to him and Jude bent down looking into the open passenger side window.

“Hey!” said the girl behind the steering wheel, “Is that your truck back there?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want a ride into town then?”

“Um, yeah, thanks,” said Jude as he opened the door, taking off his backpack and sliding into the passenger seat. “Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it.”

“Sure no problem, I’m headed back into town anyways, had to get out of the house for a while. I’m Mary,” said the girl, reaching out her hand.

“I’m Jude,” he replied shaking Mary’s hand.

Mary had long, brown hair tied in a pony-tail and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a green t-shirt, jeans and flip-flops. She smiled before turning back to the road. What a smile, Jude thought.

“So what’s the story? Road trip? Running away from home? Going to visit family?”

“Yeah,” Jude said as he laughed. “All three pretty much. My mom just got married, which is cool, but the guy’s not my dad so it’s kind of weird. Anyways, so I’m on my way to Portland to live with my uncle and start going to school there.”

“Wow, that’s cool, where are you from then?”

“Texas.”

“Oh wow! What a trip… Well, there’s a fix-it place in town but it won’t be open ‘til tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, I figured. I’ll probably just get some food and head back to the truck for tonight.”

“Oh no way! You can stay with my friend Mark. Actually I’m headed to the restaurant we work at to help him close up for the night, so you could get some food too.”

“That’s cool but I don’t want to impose on a guy I don’t know because of a girl I just met…”

“Seriously, Mark won’t care at all. His parents are really cool. Like the nicest people in the whole town.”

“Cool, well, uh, thanks.”

“Sure. I’ll mention it to him, he won’t mind at all. It’s this place right up here on the corner, where we work I mean.”

Jude had been watching the streetlights go by and was wondering what Mark was like, or if Mark was Mary’s boyfriend, or what, and then, there they were. The white Camaro pulled into a broken-up blacktop parking lot in front of a small fluorescent-lit burger place, with big windows. It was painted red and white with a sign above the door – Kelly’s – it read.

“This is Kelly’s. It’s like the mom and pops burger place in town.”

“Sounds good,” said Jude, feeling the emptiness in his stomach.

They got out of the car and walked towards the front door. Jude saw someone behind the counter in a red apron. Must be Mark, he thought. He reached for the door and the bells hanging on the other side of it jangled as he opened it for Mary. “Thanks,” she said, in a surprised voice, as though not many people opened doors for her.