Unused Excerpt From 'The Townie' (reupload for higher resolution)

Unused excerpt from a short story I'm working on. I had the first couple pages for this already written when I decided that I wanted rework it and shift the narrative/thematic focus a little bit. As such, this section doesn't really have a place anymore, but I still think it works as a standalone piece.

Originally, a major component of the thematic narrative was about satirizing the sort of relationship that takes place in a college town between the (perhaps) wealthier, educated-but-naive students and the otherized, noble savage 'Townie' caste. I went to school in the town of Delaware, Ohio, which is exactly as buttfuck nowhere as it sounds. The townies existed both as sort of figures of lore-- there was a friendly old man who sat on the porch every day and waved at students, who we called Porch Townie, and the owner of the local Subway we called "Chips and Drink Townie" on account of his famous catchphrase. Of course, the townies were also, crucially, the people you bought drugs from. Are you hungry enough for weed, addy, coke, or something even stronger that you'd leave your quaint little academic bubble and venture into the blasted lands? Delaware Ohio was a town that was for sure hit hard by the opioid crisis, and there was certainly a lot of gross mythologizing and stereotyping that kinda went along with that.

I can't go into too much detail about the plot, because the core of that is going to remain unchanged, (perhaps a retrospective is in order whenever the story comes out) but ultimately, the story sought to lampoon that relationship. I think you definitely get a taste of that in this excerpt, and in fact, it's probably the strongest section of the whole story in regards to tapping into that theme-- which is part of the reason why, ultimately, I just decided that there wasn't enough juice behind that idea for me to make a story that meets my standards of meaningfulness. So instead, I pivoted to focus more heavily on one of the story's other themes, which I can't get into here. There is certainly going to be an accompanying shift in tone, but ultimately, I think it will make for a pithier, more enjoyable and impactful narrative, which I feel more confident telling a story about. Look forward to that, whenever that comes out.