The young man wanted a role model.

He looked long and

hard in his youth, but that role model never materialized.
His only choice was to embrace all the people in his life he
didn't want to be like.
I've rented a car in Las Vegas and have reserved a hotel in
Twentynine Palms which is just north of Joshua Tree. We'll
drive from Las Vegas through Mojave National Preserve
and possibly do a short hike on our way down. Then
spend all day on Monday at Joshua Tree. We can decide
the next morning if we want to do more in Joshua Tree or
Mojave before we head back.
Barbara had been waiting at the table for twenty minutes.
it had been twenty long and excruciating minutes. David
had promised that he would be on time today. He never
was, but he had promised this one time. She had made
him repeat the promise multiple times over the last week
until she'd believed his promise. Now she was paying the
price.
It seemed like it should have been so simple. There was
nothing inherently difficult with getting the project done.
It was simple and straightforward enough that even a
child should have been able to complete it on time, but
that wasn't the case. The deadline had arrived and the
project remained unfinished.