I took my sister to the mall Saturday evening. Late autumn, sun setting, 104.9 playing on the radio. The eighties were back, that is until we arrived. The dimly lit parking lot stretched out, predominantly empty except for about ten cars, the mall satin the distance, most the stores were closed, the open ones had busted signs with faded lettering. A few of the lamps lining the lot still worked, under one, a man leaned against a black and gold Chevy Starcraft conversion Van, smoking a cigarette to the sound of the radio. As we rolled by I slowed down, rolled my windows down, and turned up the volume. 2 radios synchronized, for a moment, under that flickering orange electric lamplight, time stood still, I had never seen that man before in my life, but for a moment we had something in common, and we shared that song beneath the setting sun, “Bad company ‘till the day I die”. I used to like the mall when I was little, before the arcade closed, I’d play there under the supervision of my father as my mom shopped, it was the only time I got to play anything other than Tetris, I was around 9 at the time, and I loved the racing games they had there. You can still see the “ghosts” of the old store names, where the paint is less faded than the surrounding. We were there because my sister needed fabric, a n in an out mission get it and get back on the road. Inside music was playing through an old crackly system, likely the same mixtape on repeat from when the place was at its peak, now just a reminder of what used to be. We got to the fabric store, got what we needed and got out. Once back in the parking lot, my sister entertained the idea of snooping around some of my the abandoned stores, I decided against it. Pretty soon we were back on the road, and 104.9 played “Rock’n into the night”, last song before night man Alice Cooper took over for Brian and Bobby The Hawk Dog. Homeward bound passed Lake Winnipesaukee, howling out the window at a slow moving Mack because why the hell not!