The old, Western-style atmosphere of the place gave me a peculiar feeling. After showing me an empty seat next to his shop window, the boy disappeared behind it. I had no choice but to sit down and wait for something to eat. After all, how different could a hot dog taste outside of town compared to inside?
His cheerful voice came from behind, "Please choose what you want from the board on the wall. The crossed-out items are sold out!"
When he said, "They're sold out," I thought to myself, he must be lying. His food must be spoiled because no one buys it. How many customers could an old shop on a highway have?
Anyway, I looked at the board. A white whiteboard with their menu written on it in marker. As I scanned the list, my eyes fell on a thick line drawn over the hot dog. Suddenly, all my hope was lost. Even though I didn't want to go inside the shop, the faint smell of sausage and food had made me a little hungry.
I no longer had a reason to stay. I got up from the seat and stood in front of the window, "You don't have any hot dogs, do you?" The young boy approached me at the sound of my voice and looked at the board himself. Then he smiled sheepishly and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. We're out of hot dogs too."
He said "sold out" again. How could he lie so much? I know what the truth is.
"Well, then I'm going. I wanted a hot dog but you didn't have any." Seeing me turn away, he anxiously approached me again and tried to sell me his other sandwiches. The reason was that since he didn't have what I wanted, he didn't want me to leave his shop empty-handed because he would feel bad. I kept telling him that I was neither hungry nor thirsty, so let me go. Even though I was lying like him, he wouldn't let me go. Out of desperation, I had to say, just give me a pack of french fries.
Hearing this, he looked so happy it was obvious in his eyes. He quickly went behind the counter and started cooking. Honestly, I didn't like being there very much; suddenly, the atmosphere inside the shop had become heavy for me. So I told the boy that I was going outside to get some air.
The outside air, although hot, had a cool breeze every now and then. At least it was better than inside the shop. I decided to follow a curiosity I had since childhood and explore the part of the place I had never seen before. So I walked around the shop to reach the back.
Behind the shop, there was a cool shadow and a few plastic chairs. It seemed like the boy would come here when he was bored. At that time, my imagination didn't work properly. But after a while, when I remembered that place, I realized how much this incident was like human behavior.
The inside of the shop was a torment to me, but its appearance, and that shadow, was much more believable to me. In a way, I liked it. Like many others, I preferred its appearance to its reality.