Elkins Rehearsal

[Verse 1]
You buy the last box of Sun-In from the Rite Aid
On the corner of Davis Avenue and Fourth.
You keep the heat off 'til October, like your father said you should.
The air smells of river mud and coming north.

[Chorus]
And this is just the Elkins rehearsal
A bad dream in reverse, you tell yourself.
Just a sinkhole memory pulling you under
To a stranger wearing your face on a shelf.

[Verse 2]
On Thursday nights, you work the till at Kroger's
And your high school boyfriend's wife buys organic kale.
She asks, "Are you back for good this time?"
And you practice how to smile and how to fail.

[Spoken-word Interlude]
(Filtered, distant voice like an old radio broadcast)
"...and for the rest of Randolph County, expect evening showers with temperatures dropping into the low fifties. A flood watch remains in effect for the Tygart Valley River until tomorrow..."

[Chorus]
And this is just the Elkins rehearsal
A bad dream in reverse, you tell yourself.
Just a sinkhole memory pulling you under
To a stranger wearing your face on a shelf.

[Bridge]
The pressure builds along the ancient bedrock
Until the weakest part of you gives way.
You thought you'd eroded into something different
But you're just sediment from yesterday.

[Outro]
The train horn echoes down the valley tracks.
Another promise passing way too fast.