oldnumberseven

At the time I was the night manager of a tall hotel along the Monongalia river. The hotel was five stories tall, and the top were large apartments full of people who afforded the space. The Monongalia river was mostly muddy and flowed north. The river wound its way north as a snail upon the sidewalk after a rain. The river flowed from Monongalia County, crossed the border into Pennsylvania and Washington County and met the Allegheny river there, then spilled into the Ohio. From there the Ohio headed west to the great divide. The people who rented the large apartments spent the warmer evenings lodged on their balconies with their invited guests, and listened to music, served drinks, and let the river flow beneath them. There were few lights shown on the west side of the bank. During the day, you could see the equipment of the builder’s contracted to make new apartments spring up off the muddy bank. Across the river was the half built strip apartments, a rail trail, and Front Street. Further East was Maryland.