I Shop at Laney's — Jeff Johnson

Laney Bozeman works at a lonely roadside junk shop in a remote corner of New Mexico. He reads old paperbacks and daydreams on his two- week shifts, and by night he stargazes and dabbles in the kitchen of the tiny attendant's bungalow. He sleeps in his truck during his time off and explores, though lately he's been carrying on with the beautiful clerk Maria from Big Donut in Roswell, so a different life might be on the horizon. The old carnie Ralston Orley is supposed to be gone when he arrives for their bimonthly sunset shift change, but this time he's still there, half naked and blackout drunk, and he's dragged a gigantic belt buckle into the bungalow's living room.