I was working on the highway swinging my wrecking ball when I saw Bobby Jean looking my way. She really has all that Heaven will allow, and "Two hearts are better than one", I grinned, so I started to walk like a man to show her I was tougher than the rest. But when I went over to her she sneered "You can look (but you better not touch!)" --- she really thinks she's the one, that girl --- so I left her there and headed down to the Cadillac Ranch. However, despite their claim that they were open all hours they were shut, so I decided to visit my friend in Nebraska. Turning out onto Thunder Road I knew it would be a long trip, and though I'd decided to drive all night, the sight of a wreck on the highway changed my mind. If I was tired and ran into something in the night I could end up in Paradise too early for my liking, I don't want to fade away just yet; that's the price you pay for trusting your life to a roll of the dice and you're suddenly one of the souls of the departed. It was a reason to believe i should stop for the night and so I checked in to the Mansion on the Hill motel.
Next morning I rose feeling refreshed and headed back out. It was raining but then if you're waitin' for a sunny day around these parts you're countin' on a miracle. Further on up the road I came across a girl hitch-hiking so I pulled up. She said her name was Rosalita and she was heading my way so I offered her a lift. Suddenly it wasn't such a lonesome day after all. She fiddled with the radio but as usual there were 57 channels and nothing on. We waved to a gypsy biker who overtook us, but she wanted me to keep up with him. I'm not normally a cautious man, but even I knew this was not the time for racing in the street. I said to her "Look, if I fall behind then the State Trooper in my rearview will only go after him". She hadn't noticed the highway patrolman and nodded, looking up instead at the empty sky above us.
Yeah, you night think it was my lucky day but I'm tellin ya, surprise surprise, this chick would not shut up. Yak yak yak! "I thought you said you were born to run" she sniffed. "We are alive", I told her, "and I intend we remain that way". We drove on in silence then. Later, as night fell, bringing down a darkness on the edge of town we watched the stars in the sky dancing in the dark. I was a little preoccupied and drove past the turnoff. "You're missing the exit!" she screeched, Cross my heart I was beginning to think to myself I wish I were blind. All I had wanted was the human touch but now I realised it was time for the long goodbye. This woman had two faces, it really was quite a brilliant disguise but the ties that bind were snapping now and so I left her out in the street and drove off again.I put the car on a course to Atlantic City and headed off to claim my beautiful reward.
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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018
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