That Time of Day

           There was a gusty wind blowing in at the windows and the soot from the oil burners of the hotel next door was down-drafted into the room and rolling across the top of the desk like tumbleweed drifting across a vacant lot. I was thinking about going out to lunch and that life was pretty flat and that it would probably be just as flat if i took a drink and that taking a drink all alone at the time of day wouldn't be any fun anyway.

The Big Sleep
Raymond Chandler
1939