A STRANGE SATURDAY NIGHT

It was a warm July evening as we parked the car in a parking lot about a mile from the center of Provincetown. Two friends of ours, Annie and Larry, along with Eunice and I, had decided to spend the evening in town. As it was the middle of the tourist season this was the closest parking spot we could find so we started our little trek toward the main section of town where all the action was with the idea of having dinner, do a little shopping in the quaint stores and perhaps take in a comedy show with some female impersonators performing at a club and have a few drinks.

It was a beautiful night with a full moon and as we were strolling along we noticed that we were the only people walking along this street. Strange to say the least. It was then that we realized we had taken a path through the town cemetery. We could see the center of town and knew we were heading in the right direction so no big deal. It turns out that Annie, while being a very intelligent girl, being of Mexican descent, was a little fearful of graveyards. It was then that Larry and I decided to make some spooky noises and start seeing things floating in the air. At least this is what we told Annie. None of this bothered Eunice but Annie started to freak out a little so obviously Larry and I increased our haunting mode and we were all entertained and having a great time. That is, all except Annie, who was getting more nervous by the minute. She kept saying, "This is not funny. Stop it. This is the way those movies start." About that time we were just about through the cemetery and entering the area we were heading for, so we stopped before we frightened the poor girl out of her wits.

We then decided, as it was still early, we would look through the quaint little stores, but of course, we had to use the public facilities first. Annie gave Larry her stuff to hold while she went in and Larry and I finished and waited for the girls to come out which they did eventually. We then started to go into a few stores and look around. After about a half hour, we turned around to talk to the girls and noticed they were gone. So we figured they were in one of the shops looking around and we started to back-track checking the stores we had gone past. The girls were gone. Nowhere in sight. They had simply disappeared. Annie's words were coming true. "This is the way the movies start." After another half hour we decided to walk back to the car and start to drive around looking for them and, lo and behold, there they were, relaxing on the car, waiting for us.

So what happened? Well, it seems that Annie, noticing her purse was gone, made a beeline back to the ladies room, assuming she left it there. When the attendant told her that there was no handbag or purses found, Annie freaked out accusing the poor woman of stealing her bag and threatening to call the police. It was then that Eunice remembered that Annie had given Larry her purse to hold so she wouldn't leave it in the ladies room, so they decided to go back to the car and wait for us. By that time, as we hadn't eaten, we decided to drive a little way and find a restaurant with a parking lot and have dinner,a few drinks and a few laughs which we did.

It was an interesting evening, to say the least.