One Among the Sleepless, a novel written and performed for podcast by Mike Bennett. This novel is intended for an adult

audience. Episode 20

Chapter 20.

Chapter 20

It was 830 on Thursday night as Sally approached the Moon and Stars Pub.

She hesitated before entering. The front doors were open and she looked inside

with some uncertainty. It was one of those big new style pubs that seemed to have sprung up all over the country.

The walls were lined with thin yellow wood paneling covered with all manner of ads from

the first part of the last century. It was a big, noisy, barn-like affair. Sally

had walked past it on various occasions, but never before had she stepped over the

threshold. The decor, size and lighting made it feel more like a

cheap casino than a pub. She took a breath, as if knowing it would be the last clean air she'd get for the next few hours and stepped inside.

Once in, she looked around for Lucy.

There seemed to be lots of groups of single men sitting around in booths, far more than you

tend to find in the average pub.

Many of these men were staring at her now quite openly, almost defiantly. As her eyes searched the room, none of

them looked away if she accidentally caught their gaze. None were embarrassed to have been caught, gawking. Instead, they

continued to stare, as if she might find this an attractive quality in a man. She moved deeper into the pub hoping to convey an air of purpose. She was beginning

to steal herself with a potential ordeal of sitting alone and waiting for Lucy to arrive, when she saw her, she was in

a booth about halfway down, waving at her like a relative in an airport airport airport

she walked towards Lucy's table

the cigarette smoke

...