round the bend

“Welcome to the Bend!” Proclaimed a dusty street sign that was way too heavy for its own
good. The giant sign was covered in hundreds of sparkling lights and decoration, while the
straining pole holding it up seemed to have a lot less faith in itself than the sign did.
Moth mouthed the words and rolled his eyes. The road they had been driving on was so flat
and straight that the single bend in the road was considered a major tourist attraction.
“What's so special about the bend?” Moth asked the man next to her, the great and glorious
Yylo, (or so he said, he was a retired magician). Yylo was her uncle, and he had a tedious
trick involving paperclips and a 5 dollar bill, a reputation as a madman almost anywhere you
went, and not much else. Nevertheless, she had been “fortunate” enough to “travel the world
in his company”, meaning cheapskate road trip in a beat up second hand van. And no
hotels, because Yylo “didn’t trust receptionists”.
“Well, there's a story there you know…” he winked and grinned. “You see, when they were
building the old road back in the 1700s, and the road workers had built half the way into the
desert, when they stopped.”
Moth groaned.
“Why’d they stop?”
“Because, the poor pavement placers had arrived at the scene of a big, bad and bloody
battle. Their road came right up to the very spot where the two sides had picked to clash,
and they didn’t look as though they’d be finishing up any time soon, least not until their
deadline. And most builders in this situation would have given up right there and then, but
these road workers, led by Martin Dove, built in the only way they could…”
“You're kidding me.” Moth groaned again.
“No, I kid you not, they built right around the battlefield and kept going, and now there's a
museum at the loop where it happened and there's a statue of old Martin Dove at the
nearest town from here.” Yylo grinned. “And thus, the Bend is born! Would you like to stop
and have a look?”
Moth groaned for the third time, then realised that if she didn’t get out she would go as crazy
as Yylo and the Bend was the last rest area for the rest of the long road. So she nodded,
and Yylo nodded back, and they pulled up at the Bend Cafe.
“It’ll be fun! They know me here you know!” said Yylo when he saw Moth’s expression.
They were greeted by a lady dressed as what Moth assumed a road worker would have
looked like in the 1700s.
“Welcome to the Bend! First time?” she asked.
“No, actually, I’ve been here, what, 6 times now? Replied Yylo grandly. “I always make sure
to stop here whenever I drive down old Hector’s Highway, your pies are like magic! And I
should know, I’m a magician!”
“A magician who retired after only 6 performances” muttered Moth, but not loud enough for
anyone else to hear.
The lady looked surprised that anyone would come here more than once, but she thanked
Yylo and handed him a map of the small town.
“No need!” boomed Yylo, to the embarrassment of Moth. “I know this place like it grew on
the back of my hand!”
Moth made him take the map then dragged him into the cafe.
Yylo ordered a burger and asked if Moth wanted an icecream, even though it was freezing.
After their meal, they walked out together and Yylo pointed out the statue of Martin Dove,
with considerable smugness. Moth guessed he didn’t get to be right very much.
“Do you want to get back in the car soon?” asked Yylo.

Moth scanned the area for anything to delay the trip for any longer. She didn’t think she
could stand another hour sweating in Yylo’s smelly van.
“Can we go there first?” she pointed at a tiny department store.
“Perhaps.” Yylo grinned in his annoying way.
They walked over to the store, which seemed to be the only building not crowded with
tourists. The Bend Convenience Store was a rickety wooden mess just one plaque short of a
historic attraction. A notice on the shop told anyone who cared that it had been established
over 300 years ago.
Yylo glanced over his shoulder as he walked toward the building.
“What’s the matter?” Asked Moth.
“Don’t you think it's a bit odd?”
Moth looked at him.
“There’s nobody else over there,” they both said together.
It was odd, now that Yylo had pointed it out. A shop still standing since the town was
founded? Tourists ought to be swarming over the place like flies, but they just walked past as
though it wasn’t there.
“Should we go back?” asked Moth. She had never seen Yylo stop and think before.
But Yylo took a deep breath.
“We WILL go in to that shop. So what if no-one else is? If I avoided every place that didn’t
have anyone else there I would be… well, a very boring person.”
It was true. He was completely mad, but nobody could say Yylo was boring.
They stepped inside. The shop was completely ordinary on the inside, and Moth smiled. Yylo
walked up to the counter, smiling too.
The shopkeeper froze in the process of counting his money.
“You.”
Yylo stopped smiling.