We're living in repetition / content in the same old shtick again...
Finally, after walking for about half an hour in the now bothersome heat, Jeff scanned his eyes across the windows of some fast-food restaurants and finally saw a comparable figure to Tim. After squinting through the sunlight blaring down on him, he confirmed his suspicion and quickened his pace to get inside. He walked over to his dark haired muscular friend in silence and slipped into the booth seat across from him. Tim didn't take his eyes off his coffee.
"You were right, man." Tim shook his head slowly, breaking the several minutes of silence they had accumulated.
"About what?" Jeff said with a puzzled expression, never taking his eyes off of Tim, who still hadn't looked up.
"It's all just futile," Tim looked up finally, adding a slight smile. "We're here, and years from now there'll a new group of us. And so on and so on. I bet you fifty years ago there were people just like us—fuck, our ANCESTORS were probably just like us."
like a production line going over and over and over, roller coaster...
"What are you babbling about? Since when did you start to care about your status on this planet?"
"We're trapped. We're fucking trapped in a giant circle, and there's no way out." The smile had faded as he lit up a cigarette.
"Yeah well what about Pony? What about Buff and Erica? Shit—what about Sooze?"
"Can I get you something?" A dark blond haired waitress strolled over to take Jeff's order.
"Yeah, just bring me some coffee," he said, running his hands through his light curly hair. "Black," he said as she turned to leave.
"They're not out," Tim continued.
"They sure as hell aren't wasting their lives around here anymore!" Jeff said, gesturing his hands, palms upward.
"They'll never be out. You think just 'cause they left it means their life now has some profound meaning? They're losers, just like us, and no matter where they go they'll never be any more than a bunch of suckers. Pointless suckers with no purpose in life," Tim took another drag on his cigarette and sighed out the smoke, now staring out the window. Jeff tapped his thumbs on the table in the silence.
"So what's your point?" Jeff said finally, deciding to try to get to the bottom of all of this meaningless chatter he could only assume was carried over from the night before.
"There is no point. To anything. Life's pointless." Tim didn't take his gaze from some unknown place outside the McDonald's.
"Life's pointless," Jeff repeated after a while, a little too sarcastically to nudge Tim to continue. He wasn't as skeptical as he sounded. In fact, he was starting to agree, and it scared him.
"No matter where we go, we'll never be happy. No matter what we do, we won't be satisfied. We could go to LA or New York or wherever, and it wouldn't be any different. And we sure as hell aren't satisfied here in Burnfield. I've been out. I've been around, and I've seen how other people live, just trying make it from day to day. For what? What's it all for? What are we doing here, Jeff?" Finally meeting his gaze, Jeff saw sincerity in Tim's eyes for the first time since he'd known him. Since the others left, Tim had way too much time to think, and it was having some pretty serious effects on him.
Tim put out his cigarette. "I can't keep living for nothing," he said in an almost whispered tone, standing up, throwing two dollars out of his pocket onto the table and walking out. Jeff watched him cross the street, wondering where he was going. He would try to catch up, but he had nothing more to say. He half-agreed with Tim's perspective, and so there was no point in trying to talk him out of anything.
I waste it, faked it, ate it, now I hate it...
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SONG: "Redundant" by Green Day