At the Crossroads

Update on the Whereabouts of Johnny Darlin

From the Practopia Project

August 5, 2042

We have received the attached image and following audio message from our missing podcaster Johnny Darlin.

Yes! I have received your texts, all thirty-three of them.

You say you want a status report. Guess I owe you that much.

I am currently seated on a bar stool in this roadside bar. The furnishings are worn, paint peeling, carpets stained by decades of spilled drinks and dropped ashes. The cocktails are warm, who can afford ice, but cheap. A bowl of rice and beans is available for anyone hungry.

The bar is ruled by Melinda, a wisp of a young lady not to be messed with. The patrons a menagerie the unpurposed, road weary refugees, and professional drifters.

Conversations are limited. Most everyone attends to the business of getting quietly drunk. Best of all, the word hope is never muttered by anyone here.

You ask about my plans.

My plans are to remain here and drink until I run out of funds, fall off this stool, and Melinda throws me out on my butt.

After that….

I do not know when, or if, I will be ready to resume your Search for Hope AfterAmerica. If my status changes I will let you know. In the meantime, feel free to cease pestering me.

PS. If you would like to add additional credits to my tether, I would be happy to buy a round for everyone here in your honor. That would be more valuable to them than any talk of hopeful tomorrows.

Regards, Johny Darlin