Chapter 1, Page 1 of my first of many mystery novels...

"Sunday Brunch at Eb and Flo's"

It's early yet, but the day has promise... to be a hot one.
Boogie boards and coolers in territorial piles at the side of the road.
Anxious, sandy-foot diners line up, contemplating hotcakes or waffles with berry syrups.
The smell of coffee and bacon co-mingle with the early morning salty breeze.
The long diner looks like a space ship... crashed by the side of the road.
It’s one of those bulbous aluminum looking things with windows along the length and a well-weathered deck in front, lined with bright yellow umbrellas shading each table.
The sun is just climbing over the large neon sign above the entrance.
Red-orange and blue paint pealing off.
Eight slow bongs ring out from the church tower down the road.  It’s eight o’clock.
Doors open at eight on Sunday.  Closed Monday and Tuesday. Six A.M. the rest of the week.
The line of hungry citizens scurry in, to procure a coveted table by the window.
So that the food and the ocean view can be feasted upon... simultaneously.
Out from behind the counter, Flo belts out with a grin “Welcome to a NEW day, world!”
as Eb grumbles from the grill “Yeah, welcome to ANOTHER day in my world”.

This... is Eb and Flo’s.
There is no... NO SHIRT NO SHOES NO SERVICE sign at this establishment.
But there is a CASH ONLY sign by the register and a TIPPING IS NOT A CITY IN CHINA badge proudly worn on Flo’s blouse and there is a HAVE A NICE DAY sign on the way out.
Eb does all the cooking for the diners limited menu.
Flo does all the waiting on tables... but there is no waiting in her day.  It’s non-stop.
The breakfast menu starts with, the a-fore mentioned pancakes, waffles and berry syrups.  Bacon or sausage. Toast. Eggs fried sunny-side up, over easy, over hard or scrambled. Then there is Eb’s home fries... Diner Taters as he calls them, “Cuz I don’t make ‘em at home”.

The after-church crowd is lining up now and they are just as hungry as the sandy-feet folks but they dress-up the queue.  In the distance the weekly morning drum circle is pounding down on the sand.

Ebeneser Bodai and Florance Willow were married in 1969 at the spur of a moment on top of a hill in Woodstock, NY surrounded by 500,000 music aficionados.


Stay tuned for many exciting pages to follow!