Local Entrepreneur Tom K. Att has received approval to open Louden Flat's first-ever nightclub, Where It's Att. “This town has needed something like this for a long time,” Att said. “I mean, seriously. What a dump.”

But not everyone is pleased. “This is a scandal,” objected Pru Dish, founder of Not Everyone Respects Vile Organizations for Uncontrolled Stuff, or NERVOUS. “You know what drinking and singing lead to.”

But Att says he's been on the prowl for a perfect team. “I got some great talent here, starting with my brother, Larry, on Country/Western night,” he said. “I've also got some dancers I found four towns over in Shaker's Bottom, Shawn Ann Tell, Terri Toff, Lucy Morales, and Sharon Freely. I'm having a Karaoke Night with May Q. Singh, and Singles Night with Perri Noff.”

Larry Att is also enthusiastic. “I've got some new cowboy songs written just for the occasion,” he said. “Of course, I won't be able to bring my horse into the club, but it'll be a good show all the same.”

“It's not just about a good show per se,” noted karaoke hostess Singh. “It's about people having fun, not about talent. It'll be great.”

Dish and her organization are not reassured. “Karaoke!” she declared with obvious horror. “Not to mention those awful dancers. The whole thing gives me the willies.”

Dancer Lucy Morales is not impressed by Dish's concerns, though she has some difficulty expressing her thoughts in a quotable manner. “It's a load of you-know-what,” she eventually said. “We're just dancing. Everyone has a good time. If she doesn't like it, she can stay home and make muffins or something.”

Singles Night hostess Noff believes that the club can provide more than just a good time. “It's really a service,” she said. “It's so hard to meet people these days. Just try to start a relationship at the grocery store now; you can joke around or complain about prices or whatever, but as soon as you say you want a relationship people look at you funny. I know this for a fact.”

“This club is a matter of culture, of community,” said future customer I. Ball, who feels so strongly about the club that he has founded his own organization, Help Us Bring in Babes Already, or HUBBA. “Those NERVOUS people should just lighten up,” he said. “Not everybody wants to sit at home every night. We need something like this club. I know I do.”

Most of Louden Flat's City Council members declined to discuss their decision to approve the club, but Polly Tique has no reservations about it. “I doubt reservations will be necessary anyway,” she said. “It's a nightclub, not a hotel. Tom K. Att is pretty full of himself, but he's not that bad. Yet.”

Mayor Les Ismore, asked about his views on the club, said, “You can be sure I'll look into it.”

Copyright S.D. Youngren

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S. D. Youngren was born and raised in San Jose, California, and holds Bachelor's degrees in English and Psychology from San Jose State University. Her novel, Rowena Gets a Life, is a collection of stories from her humorous-fiction website, "Rowena's Page" She lives with her husband in Los Angeles.