THE ROAD TO NOWHERE

         Once again, Deni Silva finds himself at a crossroad. This time as the pandemic of 2020 brings the world to its knees. A year earlier, separated from his wife of twenty-five years, he, and his two dogs, Sierra and Henry, left family, and friends in California to settle in upstate New York. There, in the Adirondack Mountains, surrounded by the quiet of pristine natural beauty is home. Birchwood, the rural town with no stoplight, one school, and two hundred inches of snow a year is where he sees himself. The pandemic has changed all of that.

            With the world, and his job in shutdown, Deni struggles for answers. He’s a fifty-six-year-old with an arthritic hip in need of replacement. It’s a given among employees that if the plant doesn’t open for the summer season, there will be layoffs. That would be a disaster. Unemployment and stimulus money would do little to stave off his debt. Of course, he knows he can return to California, and go back to being a pool pro.

            What would that mean for his budding romantic relationship with Cassie? She fears Deni leaving, even if it’s only temporary. Their complicated connection would surely be tested in his absence. The turmoil in his life is all too familiar, and what he desperately wanted to end by moving to New York.

            Deni’s grind is everyone’s struggle. The longing of a romantic connection that will lead to love. To feel the communal kinship of being called a local. Respected at work, and free of mental and physical pain. All while surviving the pandemic of 2020.