They come

Yesterday a horde of teenage girls invaded my motel.

The first sign of their arrival was the loud and incessant giggling I heard right outside my goddamn door. The second was walking out my door an hour later and encountering several groups of them on the way down. "Hello!" they would say to me in English as we passed by each other. "Hello!" I would reply. That was it.

This morning as I walked to McDonald's for breakfast, they all stood at the front desk. All two dozen or so of 'em. Standing. Waiting. Leaking outside. It is a small hallway. Not much standing room. They were there when I left and when I came back, carrying my breakfast.

No one was at the desk, yet. I'm not sure if they were waiting to check out or waiting for their entire group. Either way, they were in the way. No one talked to me that time, though.

Perhaps in the light they were frightened by my gruff and rugged appearance.