every day use by Alice Walker
...another sleepless night in the quiet of a well-lighted cafe. The older waiter explains to the younger, more impatient waiter, "You do not understand. This is a clean and pleasant cafe. It is well lighted. The light is very good and also, now there are shadows of the leaves." For a lonely, old man, the clean, well-lighted cafe is a slight respite from the darkness. He drinks himself into a drunken state, hoping that sleep will come -- taking him from the quiet desperation that has already caused him to attempt suicide once (as the waiters discuss). The old man finally left the café when the young waiter refused to serve him another Brandy. After the two waiters bid each other good night, the older one contemplates a sense of nothingness that he often feels. He recites a parody of the Lord's Prayer that repeats the Spanish word "nada," meaning "nothing." He gets a little coffee at a nearby bar but does not like ...