Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Merchandise - Part 10

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FAR AWAY, in a tiny town in Montana, a woman named Tracy Jackson was walking her Great Dane, Arnold, and saw a man up ahead. He was strong looking, youngish; he was nicely dressed, fresh shirt, clean jeans. In his hand was a post and he had it lined up, carefully, he pounded down onto the wooden post. As he looked up, taking a quick break from his work, he caught her eye and smiled. He had a nice smile, a real winning smile, she thought. They hadn’t welcomed this couple to the neighborhood yet, she realized. Perhaps she would do that. It might be a good idea.

The man went back to work on his post and finished after a few more hammer blows. The hammer hung limply in his hand as she approached, trying to keep Arnold from running too far ahead of her. He walked to the sidewalk to meet her, the hammer swinging lightly in his hand.

“Howdy there,” he said. He seemed to have a bit of a Texas accent to her. Something very pleasant, she thought.

“Hello there,” she replied. “New to the neighborhood?”

He nodded. “That we are, me and my wife, Helen.” He extended his free hand. “I’m Jonathan Cain, ma’am.”

She shook it and introduced herself. “This is my dog, Arnold.”

The Great Dane took a look at him and sniffed, turning his nose back to the wind, seeking out something more interesting.

“What’s that you’re putting up?”

“It’s a sign for our new business venture. Something my wife cooked up, figured it’d be a good way to make some money, you know.”

She looked at the sign.

ODDS AND ENDS: NEVER-ENDING YARD SALE
WE SELL ANYTHING

“Anything?” She whispered.

“What’s that?” He asked, the smile of perfect teeth still on his face. She took a look at his face and noticed that he really was the picture of perfection. Just how you’d expect a man in a magazine would look.
“You sell anything?” She asked.

“Yes, ma’am.” He replied. “Anything.”


The End
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About the Author:

Michael Wright lives in Alabama and has been writing since his mid-teen years. He enjoys playing guitar, reading, writing, coffee, sushi, Christian theology and he has never been to a never-ending yard sale. Read more stories at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/michaelwright92

4 comments:

  1. Wow, that was very excellent! You did a great job creating an allegory that was obvious to what you were trying to get across. You do a good job with the writing, too. I was very enthralled with it- reading quickly without getting lost in details, or having too little details to feel like it was dry.

    I pray that God will bless this and that those who do not know the name of Jesus would come to seek Him as their savior.

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  2. @PrincessR: I a overjoyed that you found this story a blessing. I'm glad the writing of it turned out fine as well, it is one of the stories that I am most pleased with so far.

    Thanks for reading!

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  3. One of my favorite parts of your story is the ending (and I mean that in a totally good way): it's absolutely perfect. Well done. :)

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  4. @Corey: Thanks, that was finished at 3:18 AM...for real.

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