Melora Griffis

The drive-in is off the Dominion down a long gravel road with woods on either side where the old Indian graveyard is hidden.  Spirits are more alive than dead just being in the vicinity of the grassy place with headstones from another era.  If there is a drive-in sign it is obscured, but eventually a little white booth is visible where a line of cars idle waiting to pay and find their spot in the big lot facing the screen.  The gatekeeper inspects the car while the designated teenage driver announces how many movie going passengers (that aren't under blankets) need tickets.  She can hear the transaction and holds perfectly still so as not to get caught.  After the car pulls away, she is once again at ease emerging cautiously from under her delinquent camouflage.  Adrenaline arrests her body with giggles and wiggles at the thrill of being invisible.  They find a spot beside one of the metal speakers that hooks on to the passenger window.  As dusk becomes night the open air cinema fills with stars.  Their vehicle is a private viewing room.  She takes her blanket to the wagon roof and stretches out to lose herself in the movie.  There is a place to buy popcorn and hotdogs but they are all about keeping the cost down.

-Melora Griffis, July 2021