Dialogue #1

There comes a time in every life

When love goes wrong

And sometimes the only thing a man or woman can do

Is to go

It doesn't matter where or how far

What matters is that you're going

When love plays out

There's still something in a man or woman

That cries out for more love

For true love

For lasting love

And so it is with the rambler

Leaving the East Coast

He rambles his way up through Pittsburgh

Wheeling, Westward through Ohio

Illinois, Indiana

His only companion at times is the car radio

The rambler remembers other times

Good times in places along the way

And suspecting that he won't lose her memory

Knowing that his love for her will haunt him wherever he goes

He hopes to dull the pain with new experiences, new places

Maybe a new face, a new adventure

Maybe a new friend

A true friend

Near Lafayette, Indiana

The rambler pulls off the interstate

Down through the trees on the left

He sees a river

The rambler pulls into a little roadside park

Overlooking the river

The rambler walks down to the water

"Hey, how you doing? You catching any?"

The rambler is not alone. "No"

"Uh, hope I'm not disturbing you"

"No, you're not disturbing me"

"How's fishing on this river?"

"Well, I hear about a mile downstream there,"

"Towards Lafayette, they're catching some good catfish"

"Underneath that railroad bridge"

"Yeah"

"But it's pretty crowded down there"

"It's a little more peaceful here, you know"

"Uh-huh"

"Well, I'm not really interested in fishing"

"I'm just passing through"

"Where you going?"

"Oh, nowhere in particular"

"California, I guess, that's the way I'm headed"

"Huh, that's funny, I just came back from California"

"Really? Working out there?"

"No, no"

"Uh, you got family out there?"

"Well, my woman is"

"Well, I'd say you're a long way from your woman, aren't you?"

"I was just out there trying to get her to come back home here,"

"But she wouldn't come"

"And that's just me and that river there"

"Yeah"

"You know, looks like me and you got something in common"

"What are you talking about?"

"Women"

"Oh"

"We've both lost, I think"

"You got the river"

"But I got the highway"

"And I bet you the highway will take you further"

"If you want to run, I've got an empty shotgun seat"

"I don't know about that"