This is a 1,000 word story
Genre: Comedy
Location: Flower Shop
Object: Fish
Killing Goldfish
Mr. Brownfield could feel Harold looking at him. Brownfield closed his eyes, took a deep breath and potted the plant how he wanted to do it anyway. The Greenhouse was slow and Brownfield was trying out new things to pass the time. Harold the goldfish just did what he always did, swim in his bowl and shake his head at Brownfield. After the shop was tidied up, Brownfield locked up and headed home without saying a word to Harold.
When Brownfield came in the next morning Mrs. Flowers was sitting at the register, smiling at Harold and sprinkling food into his bowl, blowing kisses at him.
Brownfield said hello to Mrs. Flowers and Harold. He told Mrs. Flowers she looked lovely and gritted his teeth as he told Harold that his bowl looked very clean. He set down his bag and went to look at the Marigold plant he potted the day before, it was on its way to dying already.
It was Friday morning and the shipment was about to come in, carnations and star gazing lilies and pansies for the spring. Mrs. Flowers yelled to Brownfield and he heard the front door bell go off. Brownfield ran up to front and saw only Harold, who snickered at him, probably because the marigold was dying. Brownfield would have to unload and inspect the plants and begin arranging them to be sold off as birthday and anniversary gifts. Mrs. Flowers, his mother-in-law, would want to see everything looking beautiful.
Harold laughed, as if he knew Brownfield was thinking about Flowers and was stressing himself out again. Brownfield went in the back room because he didn’t want Harold to see him cry, like a girl scout who just burnt a batch of brownies and lost her baking badge, again. Brownfield was in the back wiping tears from his eyes with a small bouquet of roses and wondering if he’d ever win Mrs. Flowers approval and if he should get the tips of his hair frosted this weekend to look good for the busy week next week when he heard the front door bell chime, letting him know someone was walking in the store.
Brownfield walked up front and saw a man staring at the sign sitting next to Harold next to the register on the desk up front. The sign said “Welcome to Flowers Greenhouse. This is Harold The Goldfish, please look around and let Harold know if you have any questions.”
The customer looked up at Brownfield as he came to the desk and asked “What kinda crazy flower store is this, with a salesfish?”
“Oh trust me he’s very good,” Brownfield said with a laugh, extending his hand to the customer.
The customer shook Brownfield’s hand and asked for a display of flowers for his wife. Brownfield helped the man pick out a lovely bouquet of pink roses and charged him and waved to him as he left. Harold chuckled.
“Shut up,” Brownfield told Harold. “You couldn’t have made him a Greenhouse Flower Grabber either. Nobody ever signs up for those frequent buyer cards. Mrs. Flowers is crazy. No wait, I didn’t say that. Harold you didn’t hear me say that. I didn’t say that.”
Brownfield took down Mrs. Flowers sign about asking Harold and went in back again to arrange the shipment. He knew that Harold was going to tell Mrs. Flowers what he said. Harold was always whispering to customers when Brownfield was in back. Brownfield knew Harold was telling the customers about his crying and how he only worked in the greenhouse because he was the owner’s son-in-law. But Brownfield couldn’t kill the goldfish. He had tried. Somehow the fish was immune to the poisons Brownfield mixed in with the fish food and he was too slippery to grab so that Brownfield could inject him with a syringe of something. Brownfield couldn’t fit a butcher knife in the fish bowl to slice Harold’s throat. It was impossible to kill him.
Brownfield couldn’t fill the fishes bowl with chlorine or anything, Mrs. Flowers would notice that and she loved the fish. She made Harold salesfish of the month, every month.
Brownfield finished the shipment duties and went up front to lock up the store. He did all the closing duties, inventory, cleaning and balancing the cash register. Harold didn’t do anything.
“This is why I don’t like you Harold,” Brownfield said to him as he Windexed the windows. “You never do anything, no work. You just sit there and judge people and look cute for Mrs. Flowers. One of these days I’ll find a way to kill a fish. You’ll be sorry. You make the working conditions here hell. It’s a very uncomfortable work environment, you know that right?”
Brownfield finished up and told Harold goodnight and locked up the greenhouse. He wanted to go home, read the new issue of Lumberjacks Today Magazine and get to bed early, so he could come in early on a Saturday, have the pansies for the spring sale all organized and set up in the front of the store and impress Mrs. Flowers.
When Brownfield opened up Flowers Greenhouse Saturday morning he didn’t see Harold. His heart stopped for pi seconds and his mouth hung agape. His cock might have grown hard but he’d never admit that. Harold was gone. Brownfield smiled. He’d be salesMAN of the month now. He’d laugh joyfully and run a happy greenhouse without Harold’s oppressive stare covering everything. Brownfield closed the door, dropped his bag. He danced a jig, twirled, closed his eyes and sang out at the top of his lungs “I’m every woman.”
“I wish my daughter had married a woman,” Mrs. Flowers said.
Brownfield opened his eyes and saw Mrs. Flowers walking to the front desk carrying Harold in a larger bejeweled bowl with TOP EMPLOYEE written on it.
With cold disappointment in her voice Mrs. Flowers said “There’s a dying marigold in the back, every son, go throw it away.”
Friday, December 9, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Creative Writing Championship 2011, round 1 entry
This is a 1,000 word story
Genre: Fantasy
Location: A public library
Object: A remote control
A Tooth Fairytale
I pick up the remote and turn on the sports channel, but golf is on so I turn to one of the news channels and a show is starting. I set the remote down as the title “The Sexist Tooth Fairy Union?” flashes across the screen.
The documentary looks low budget, flood lights are berating a table in front of the Non Fiction stacks of books and three tooth fairies sit at the table. They introduce themselves as Bob, Ken and Steve. The voiceover tells me that they are the only three male tooth fairies working today. Although, it doesn’t seem like they will be working much longer. The three have co-authored a book about the sexism and discrimination in the tooth fairy union and Bob says he thought other kinds of fairies needed to be aware of the conditions of tooth fairies.
I admit working as a Hobgoblin I rarely pay attention to the social inadequacies around me. I generally just terrorize and eat and leave. Hobgoblins don’t really work in teams and there’s no union, probably because we could never pull it off, so I don’t think about it much. There were a good amount of girl hobgoblins, sneaky bitches, and most of the actual goblins were women.
Bob says as the only male tooth fairies, and the tallest of all tooth fairies – Steve was more than an inch tall – that he and his crew were always given the same tooth recovery jobs. They had to fly to trailers and places in the southern hemisphere with open windows, cause the tooth fairy union didn’t think they could get in and out of some places as well as the girls. The documentarians zoomed in on Bob as he sat in the library – where the tooth fairies often went to talk shop and check out loose teeth in the area children and now where Bob and Ken and Steve’s book was – and he gritted his teeth and spittle gather on his lip as he seethed about the union. The show then cut to a grainy document, a press release from the tooth fairy union, a statement that all union fairies are treated equally. However, in the accompanying group photo of the union members the male tooth fairies definitely seemed more tan. Which the narrator points out could have been a result of more time in the southern hemisphere, but it also could have been extra vacation time the union says the guys used up.
The narration says the male tooth fairies were on extended leave for personal reasons. A former tooth fairy reveals she heard the males threatened to sue the union and were asked to leave and I don’t know what’s true. Ken’s wife says Ken came home and constantly complained about a feeling that he was being sent to get all the “bad teeth.” Teeth that were large or cracking or infected or otherwise defective always seemed to be waiting for Ken. The union officials told Ken he was receiving assignments like everyone else did, but he began to question that when he ran into Steve at an office party and they traded some workplace stories. Both Ken and Steve look straight into the camera and say that they felt the male tooth fairies were often more frustrated than the women tooth fairies because of they were treated like meat, big boys to go lift heavy stuff and that’s all.
Ken and Steve tracked done Bob in the North Pole office after the workplace party at their office in Shangri-La and the three of them started realizing how they may have been systematically used and discriminated against, the voiceover says. Bob had a blog that he wrote and used his writer skills to put together their story and attract a publishing company and their book “Am I Getting Fucked Here? The Male Tooth fairies Story” came out in less than a year.
The voiceover tells me that there are lots of lawsuits over the book and related issues. Tooth fairy union representatives tell the show that they are sorry anytime a tooth fairy is unhappy and they are unable to resolve the issue. Bob and Ken and Steve tell the interviewer that they are considering freelance tooth fairy and tooth fairy related – parties, Bat Mitzvahs and circus events – options while the lawsuits get worked out by the Court of Wizards.
Narration says that attorneys for both sides say they are confident but not willing to make statements until the wizard court had made rulings. Bob’s mom says she thinks her son and the others have suffered a tremendous amount of stress and embarrassment through the discrimination revelation. However, the narrator reminds us, the guys have also become celebrities and have gotten fan and love letters and money.
That kind of attention would make my job harder, I’d never be able to sneak around and cause mischief with groupies around, I think. I wonder if the tooth fairies over have to abort a tooth pick up or if they ever wake a kid up because the paparazzi is after them? The media and social media is crazy these days after all.
The documentary ends with a shot of Bob and Ken and Steve in front of the library and it’s closed. The narrator tells us that this story is still going on and we will have to see what fate befalls the male tooth fairies. I pick up the remote and click off the TV. It’s time for me to leave this house, I’ve hobgoblinned here enough, moved all the furniture, ate some food, changed around cabinets and watched TV, leaving it on a different channel. I put my stinky socks and shoes back on and get up from the couch.
Cloud houses always feel unstable to me.
I’m going to go now.
Genre: Fantasy
Location: A public library
Object: A remote control
A Tooth Fairytale
I pick up the remote and turn on the sports channel, but golf is on so I turn to one of the news channels and a show is starting. I set the remote down as the title “The Sexist Tooth Fairy Union?” flashes across the screen.
The documentary looks low budget, flood lights are berating a table in front of the Non Fiction stacks of books and three tooth fairies sit at the table. They introduce themselves as Bob, Ken and Steve. The voiceover tells me that they are the only three male tooth fairies working today. Although, it doesn’t seem like they will be working much longer. The three have co-authored a book about the sexism and discrimination in the tooth fairy union and Bob says he thought other kinds of fairies needed to be aware of the conditions of tooth fairies.
I admit working as a Hobgoblin I rarely pay attention to the social inadequacies around me. I generally just terrorize and eat and leave. Hobgoblins don’t really work in teams and there’s no union, probably because we could never pull it off, so I don’t think about it much. There were a good amount of girl hobgoblins, sneaky bitches, and most of the actual goblins were women.
Bob says as the only male tooth fairies, and the tallest of all tooth fairies – Steve was more than an inch tall – that he and his crew were always given the same tooth recovery jobs. They had to fly to trailers and places in the southern hemisphere with open windows, cause the tooth fairy union didn’t think they could get in and out of some places as well as the girls. The documentarians zoomed in on Bob as he sat in the library – where the tooth fairies often went to talk shop and check out loose teeth in the area children and now where Bob and Ken and Steve’s book was – and he gritted his teeth and spittle gather on his lip as he seethed about the union. The show then cut to a grainy document, a press release from the tooth fairy union, a statement that all union fairies are treated equally. However, in the accompanying group photo of the union members the male tooth fairies definitely seemed more tan. Which the narrator points out could have been a result of more time in the southern hemisphere, but it also could have been extra vacation time the union says the guys used up.
The narration says the male tooth fairies were on extended leave for personal reasons. A former tooth fairy reveals she heard the males threatened to sue the union and were asked to leave and I don’t know what’s true. Ken’s wife says Ken came home and constantly complained about a feeling that he was being sent to get all the “bad teeth.” Teeth that were large or cracking or infected or otherwise defective always seemed to be waiting for Ken. The union officials told Ken he was receiving assignments like everyone else did, but he began to question that when he ran into Steve at an office party and they traded some workplace stories. Both Ken and Steve look straight into the camera and say that they felt the male tooth fairies were often more frustrated than the women tooth fairies because of they were treated like meat, big boys to go lift heavy stuff and that’s all.
Ken and Steve tracked done Bob in the North Pole office after the workplace party at their office in Shangri-La and the three of them started realizing how they may have been systematically used and discriminated against, the voiceover says. Bob had a blog that he wrote and used his writer skills to put together their story and attract a publishing company and their book “Am I Getting Fucked Here? The Male Tooth fairies Story” came out in less than a year.
The voiceover tells me that there are lots of lawsuits over the book and related issues. Tooth fairy union representatives tell the show that they are sorry anytime a tooth fairy is unhappy and they are unable to resolve the issue. Bob and Ken and Steve tell the interviewer that they are considering freelance tooth fairy and tooth fairy related – parties, Bat Mitzvahs and circus events – options while the lawsuits get worked out by the Court of Wizards.
Narration says that attorneys for both sides say they are confident but not willing to make statements until the wizard court had made rulings. Bob’s mom says she thinks her son and the others have suffered a tremendous amount of stress and embarrassment through the discrimination revelation. However, the narrator reminds us, the guys have also become celebrities and have gotten fan and love letters and money.
That kind of attention would make my job harder, I’d never be able to sneak around and cause mischief with groupies around, I think. I wonder if the tooth fairies over have to abort a tooth pick up or if they ever wake a kid up because the paparazzi is after them? The media and social media is crazy these days after all.
The documentary ends with a shot of Bob and Ken and Steve in front of the library and it’s closed. The narrator tells us that this story is still going on and we will have to see what fate befalls the male tooth fairies. I pick up the remote and click off the TV. It’s time for me to leave this house, I’ve hobgoblinned here enough, moved all the furniture, ate some food, changed around cabinets and watched TV, leaving it on a different channel. I put my stinky socks and shoes back on and get up from the couch.
Cloud houses always feel unstable to me.
I’m going to go now.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Heartbreak Makes The World Go Round, 1 page play on Lit Up Magazine
Check out a 1-page play i wrote - Heartbreak Makes The World Go Round
Friday, January 28, 2011
Monday, December 13, 2010
McLaughlin/Lowry Fund Concert and Fund Raiser UPDATE
The McLaughlin/Lowry Fund Concert and Fund Raiser raised about $2,500 for the couple. Thanks to everyone who came out.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Cleveland Ohio - November 26th Fundraiser Planned for Couple Injured in Accident in South America
November 26th Fundraiser Planned for Couple Injured in Accident in South America
Cleveland, Ohio – A local man and his wife were seriously injured, with burns over much of their bodies, as a result of an accident in Rio De Janeiro this summer and friends have organized an event to benefit the couple on Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. at Anatomy NightClub and Ultralounge in downtown Cleveland. Taking advantage of the holiday spirit and the traditions of giving and coming together, everyone is invited to the McLaughlin/Lowry Fund Concert and Fund Raiser on Nov. 26 at Anatomy.
David McLaughlin, who is a graduate of North Olmsted High School and has family in North Olmsted and Lakewood, and his wife Sarah Lowry were living in Rio De Janeiro Brazil as part of McLaughlin’s Doctorate program at The Ohio State University and were burned after a manhole cover exploded underneath them in June of this year. One of the couple’s friends Nick Collins has organized the McLaughlin/Lowry Fund Concert and Fund Raiser to help the two with medical and living expenses. The Nov. 26th event will feature the reunion of McLaughlin’s high school band, Booty Scooty, as well as 50/50 drawings and Chinese raffle prizes. Tickets for the event can be purchased at the door or in advance at http://mclaughlinlowry.charityhappenings.org/. The ticket proceeds and all the proceeds from the raffles and contests will go directly to McLaughlin and Lowry. Anatomy Nighclub is also donating a portion of alcohol sales at the event to the couple.
Anatomy Nightclub is located at 1299 W. 9th Street in Cleveland Ohio. The McLaughlin/Lowry Benefit will feature performances by Booty Scooty and DJ Rimon, of Trackstar DJs. The event is scheduled from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. and raffles prizes include gift cards to Melt Bar & Grill, studio time at Artist for a day, yoga lessons, memberships to Curves and passes to Swings N’ Things.
For more information on the McLaughlin/Lowry Fund Concert and Fundraiser visit http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133088376734327. For more information on Anatomy visit http://www.anatomycleveland.com/
Those who cannot attend the event can donate to McLaughlin and Lowry through Paypal or by purchasing a Heart of Love ornament by visiting http://www.daveandsarah.info
For additional information contact Nick and Jenni Collins via email at jenni@jabinco.com or Mike Hammer at mikey.hammer@gmail.com or 440.465.7676.
***
Cleveland, Ohio – A local man and his wife were seriously injured, with burns over much of their bodies, as a result of an accident in Rio De Janeiro this summer and friends have organized an event to benefit the couple on Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. at Anatomy NightClub and Ultralounge in downtown Cleveland. Taking advantage of the holiday spirit and the traditions of giving and coming together, everyone is invited to the McLaughlin/Lowry Fund Concert and Fund Raiser on Nov. 26 at Anatomy.
David McLaughlin, who is a graduate of North Olmsted High School and has family in North Olmsted and Lakewood, and his wife Sarah Lowry were living in Rio De Janeiro Brazil as part of McLaughlin’s Doctorate program at The Ohio State University and were burned after a manhole cover exploded underneath them in June of this year. One of the couple’s friends Nick Collins has organized the McLaughlin/Lowry Fund Concert and Fund Raiser to help the two with medical and living expenses. The Nov. 26th event will feature the reunion of McLaughlin’s high school band, Booty Scooty, as well as 50/50 drawings and Chinese raffle prizes. Tickets for the event can be purchased at the door or in advance at http://mclaughlinlowry.charityhappenings.org/. The ticket proceeds and all the proceeds from the raffles and contests will go directly to McLaughlin and Lowry. Anatomy Nighclub is also donating a portion of alcohol sales at the event to the couple.
Anatomy Nightclub is located at 1299 W. 9th Street in Cleveland Ohio. The McLaughlin/Lowry Benefit will feature performances by Booty Scooty and DJ Rimon, of Trackstar DJs. The event is scheduled from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. and raffles prizes include gift cards to Melt Bar & Grill, studio time at Artist for a day, yoga lessons, memberships to Curves and passes to Swings N’ Things.
For more information on the McLaughlin/Lowry Fund Concert and Fundraiser visit http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133088376734327. For more information on Anatomy visit http://www.anatomycleveland.com/
Those who cannot attend the event can donate to McLaughlin and Lowry through Paypal or by purchasing a Heart of Love ornament by visiting http://www.daveandsarah.info
For additional information contact Nick and Jenni Collins via email at jenni@jabinco.com or Mike Hammer at mikey.hammer@gmail.com or 440.465.7676.
***
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
CWC 2010 Challenge 2 - It's All Junk
It’s All Junk
A collector finds more than he bargains for while digging around a local junkyard.
Jerry was definitely staring at a 1931 King Kong 1 player flattop wooden pinball machine. It was beat to hell on the outside, but the artwork was still intact. The marble top and the sturdy glass on top of the table looked good too, but the Walnut wooden legs were knicked and scratched and chipped and chunked, but it still would be worth a few thousand. Jerry stood in the wood shed in the back corner of the lot for Ernie’s Junkyard and smiled. Sometimes an adventure does pay off, he thought to himself. His padlock picking skills also made him smile.
The smell in the shed was vicious though, and he hoped it wouldn’t stick with the machine when he got it home, or stick in his car on the 45 min drive back. Jerry stood with his hands on his hips and a victorious smile on his face staring at the machine when he heard someone approaching behind him.
Jerry saw Ernie coming toward him, he flashed a big smile, but Ernie look scared.
“This section is all useless Mr, it’s blocked off, I thought this shed was locked, it’s dangerous, health department said too many rats or something and they are gonna tear it down, come on out of there, Ernie said, grabbing Jerry firmly by the shoulder and guiding him out of the shed.
Ernie pulled the doors of the shed closed and ut the padlock back on. He smiled nervously and turned to Jerry saying “I’m sorry about that, let’s get you back up front – I think I found some flippers for ya.”
Jerry smiled big and starting walking up to the junkyard office. It seemed Ernie kept most of his stuff up front in the corner furthest away from the wood shed. Jerry looked at the shitty flippers Ernie handed him and even though they clearly weren’t for a Star Wars pinball game from any year Jerry smiled and paid him 22 dollars and thanked him.
Ernie walked Jerry out to his truck, he was the last customer of the day, and Jerry shook his hand and drove away. Later that night around midnight Jerry came back to Ernie’s Junkyard. He carried a black gym bag and wore a ski mask. Instead of approaching the front gate Jerry came around the back of the junkyard near the shed. He pulled a large pair of wire clippers out of his bag and began to cut a large round entrance in the gate.
Once Jerry found himself back in the shed he set up some lights and analyzed the best way to get the machine un stacked from the rest of the wood and do it as fast as he could, cause the smell was making him naesous and he didn’t wanna run across to many huge rats. Jerry got on the floor next to the pinball machine and shined his flashlight on the legs of the machine to see if it was got anything. When Jerry touched the leg he felt something cold and wet though. He was worried he might have to cut the legs off now. He looked at his hands and saw blood.
Jerry knew he hadn’t cut himself so he looked around for the source of the blood, probably a dead rat. He shined the flashlight along the ground and saw a pool of blood below a big box. He pulled a crowbar out of his bag and pryed the top off the wooden crate. It wasn’t easy cause the crate was sealed up tight, and when he got it open he jumped back from the awful stench. Inside the crate was blood and body parts were everywhere. Jerry threw up and stumbled outside,
His head was spinning. He was a shady collector, not the worst guy in the world, but not a guy who wanted to call the cops either. He opened the door of the shed wide and saw more crates in the moonlight. There could be hacked up bodies in every one of those crates he thought.
Jerry took his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open, then he closed it. He scrambled back to his truck and pulled out pen and paper and scotch tape. He went back in the shed and wrote “Belongs to Jerry Calendine. Telephone 509.534.8788 and taped the paper to the top of the pinball machine. He cleaned up all his stuff then went back to his truck and drove home.
After getting home Jerry smoked 5 cigarettes then walked out his front door and own the street to the pay phone. He dialed 911 and reported dead bodies in the wood shed at Ernie’s Junkyard, then hung up.
The next day Jerry opened they paper and found a story about 25 bodies, all cut up in pieces and put inside useless junk, found at Ernie’s Junkyard. The evening news showed Ernie being led away in handcuffs as Ernie shouted “The people were JUNK. They were JUNK. Nobody missed them. The world is better without them.”
One year later Ernie was sentenced to life in prison for multiple homicides.
One year and 3 months later Jerry received the delivery of a 1931 flat top wooden King Kong pinball machine.
A collector finds more than he bargains for while digging around a local junkyard.
Jerry was definitely staring at a 1931 King Kong 1 player flattop wooden pinball machine. It was beat to hell on the outside, but the artwork was still intact. The marble top and the sturdy glass on top of the table looked good too, but the Walnut wooden legs were knicked and scratched and chipped and chunked, but it still would be worth a few thousand. Jerry stood in the wood shed in the back corner of the lot for Ernie’s Junkyard and smiled. Sometimes an adventure does pay off, he thought to himself. His padlock picking skills also made him smile.
The smell in the shed was vicious though, and he hoped it wouldn’t stick with the machine when he got it home, or stick in his car on the 45 min drive back. Jerry stood with his hands on his hips and a victorious smile on his face staring at the machine when he heard someone approaching behind him.
Jerry saw Ernie coming toward him, he flashed a big smile, but Ernie look scared.
“This section is all useless Mr, it’s blocked off, I thought this shed was locked, it’s dangerous, health department said too many rats or something and they are gonna tear it down, come on out of there, Ernie said, grabbing Jerry firmly by the shoulder and guiding him out of the shed.
Ernie pulled the doors of the shed closed and ut the padlock back on. He smiled nervously and turned to Jerry saying “I’m sorry about that, let’s get you back up front – I think I found some flippers for ya.”
Jerry smiled big and starting walking up to the junkyard office. It seemed Ernie kept most of his stuff up front in the corner furthest away from the wood shed. Jerry looked at the shitty flippers Ernie handed him and even though they clearly weren’t for a Star Wars pinball game from any year Jerry smiled and paid him 22 dollars and thanked him.
Ernie walked Jerry out to his truck, he was the last customer of the day, and Jerry shook his hand and drove away. Later that night around midnight Jerry came back to Ernie’s Junkyard. He carried a black gym bag and wore a ski mask. Instead of approaching the front gate Jerry came around the back of the junkyard near the shed. He pulled a large pair of wire clippers out of his bag and began to cut a large round entrance in the gate.
Once Jerry found himself back in the shed he set up some lights and analyzed the best way to get the machine un stacked from the rest of the wood and do it as fast as he could, cause the smell was making him naesous and he didn’t wanna run across to many huge rats. Jerry got on the floor next to the pinball machine and shined his flashlight on the legs of the machine to see if it was got anything. When Jerry touched the leg he felt something cold and wet though. He was worried he might have to cut the legs off now. He looked at his hands and saw blood.
Jerry knew he hadn’t cut himself so he looked around for the source of the blood, probably a dead rat. He shined the flashlight along the ground and saw a pool of blood below a big box. He pulled a crowbar out of his bag and pryed the top off the wooden crate. It wasn’t easy cause the crate was sealed up tight, and when he got it open he jumped back from the awful stench. Inside the crate was blood and body parts were everywhere. Jerry threw up and stumbled outside,
His head was spinning. He was a shady collector, not the worst guy in the world, but not a guy who wanted to call the cops either. He opened the door of the shed wide and saw more crates in the moonlight. There could be hacked up bodies in every one of those crates he thought.
Jerry took his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open, then he closed it. He scrambled back to his truck and pulled out pen and paper and scotch tape. He went back in the shed and wrote “Belongs to Jerry Calendine. Telephone 509.534.8788 and taped the paper to the top of the pinball machine. He cleaned up all his stuff then went back to his truck and drove home.
After getting home Jerry smoked 5 cigarettes then walked out his front door and own the street to the pay phone. He dialed 911 and reported dead bodies in the wood shed at Ernie’s Junkyard, then hung up.
The next day Jerry opened they paper and found a story about 25 bodies, all cut up in pieces and put inside useless junk, found at Ernie’s Junkyard. The evening news showed Ernie being led away in handcuffs as Ernie shouted “The people were JUNK. They were JUNK. Nobody missed them. The world is better without them.”
One year later Ernie was sentenced to life in prison for multiple homicides.
One year and 3 months later Jerry received the delivery of a 1931 flat top wooden King Kong pinball machine.
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