🦊Fops News

The business needed a supplier. A big one. The numbers were good. The reputation was good. The supplier was in Greensboro, North Carolina. I was in California.

The man on the phone said to come see it. To see the operation. He said it was worth the trip. He said to come anytime. He did not know how far it was.

The car was a good car. I filled the tank. I left at first light. The sun came up. It was orange. The desert was wide and flat. The mountains were a blur in the rear-view mirror. I did not look back.

The days blurred. The highways were long lines of gray. The signs changed. The speed limits changed. The food changed. The sky was always the same. Wide. Empty. The nights were a motel room. A television with a quiet sound. The morning was the same. The car. The road.

I was in Texas. Then Arkansas. Then Tennessee. The names were just names. Then they were more. They were small towns with old gas stations. They were trees. So many trees. The air smelled different. It was thicker. It had a green smell.

Then the sign came. Greensboro. North Carolina. I had made it. The trip was over. I drove into the town. The houses were old. The streets were quiet. The warehouse was on the edge of town. It was big. It was gray. It was just a building.

The man from the phone was there. He shook my hand. He smiled. He showed me the place. The inventory was good. The operation was clean. It was as he said.

We talked numbers. We talked business. It was all good. We shook hands again. The trip had been worth it. I drove to the hotel. The car was tired. I was tired. But it was a good tired. The work was done. The long road had led to a good thing.