Response to Robert Elrod's "Pretend"

The story opens with an older man who was sitting at a secluded gas station between Phoenix and Albuquerque. He seems to be awaiting in anticipation for something as another car pulls into the lone gas station. The man grasps the gun in his pocket, loaded with blanks (a “glorified noisemaker” as he calls it) and walks toward the car as it pulls in. The driver is a young woman. The man, while planning to rob her, asks her if he can pump her gas. This is part of the main conflict. The man had wanted to feel alive again and seemed to be going through a sort of “mid-life crisis” as pointed out early on, yet he couldn’t bring himself to do it and ends up pumping gas for her instead. He is angry with himself as he performs the task he volunteered for. He meets the young lady’s son during this and soon after has a short talk with the young woman. The gas finishes pumping and he sees them off, seeing the young woman with her child as a thing of beauty.
    I really enjoyed the personality you put forth in the writing. It was third person but it was told in a very casual way and it made the story a very easy read and helped with the flow. I also liked the use of beauty and the way it was present throughout the story. The man saw beauty in the sky and in the young woman and child pair that he met.
    I was unsure how the man really changed at the end of the story. He stares at the sky as the woman drives off much like he did before she drove into the gas station. I guess this has something to do with the fact that the robbery scenario was somewhat forgotten, only being hinted at as he gives the young boy the candy he’d bought earlier.