Flea market - A story written in five...ish minutes
“Is that a wedding ring? And both of them?” A random stranger asked me, surprised.
“Yes. White gold and no inscription. I’ll give you both for $50.” I sighed back.
He looked at me and froze in place dumbfounded. “Why?” he shook his head. “Divorce?”
“No, no,” I forced a chuckle. “My wife and I need the money. We tried running our own business, but it went sour.”
I didn’t want to sell the two rings, but I needed money. My wife and I were in great financial trouble and we had to sell everything we could fast, or else the bank would take our house. We’d try a garage sale but our neighborhood isn’t appropriate for one, so I had no other choice but to go to the flea market to try and sell all our stuff.
“What was your business about?” He appeared nice and seemed genuinely interested.
“We ran an ice cream company for 7 years, but got pushed out of the market because we couldn’t afford the same advertising the competition did. Slowly, one by one, we were losing customers until we started working into negatives. We’re selling all our stuff since.” I didn’t want to whine too much, so I kept my words to a minimum.
“What do you say you join me? I’m the founder of Choqino, and am looking to enter the ice cream market. What do you say?”
“Really?” I lit up like a light bulb. It was a wish come true–I’d still be able to work with ice cream, and chocolate has always been my passion too. “I mean, yes! Very much yes!” I was more than thrilled about the offer. Choqino was one of the most renowned chocolate companies in the state.
“Tomorrow at 8 a.m., my office? That okay?”
“Yes! We’ll be there!” I could feel the lump in my throat forming and my eyes watering.
We introduced ourselves to each other and shook hands.
“Excellent! Now, put that ring back on your finger, and carry the other one back to your wife. You two deserve better than this.” With tears in my eyes, I obliged. “See you tomorrow then, stranger.”
I picked up all my stuff right after, and hurried home to my wife to pass her the good news.
"Flea market"
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Fire, Toilet, Flash, Soft feet, Pillow, Grounding, Surprise, Ending the pain, Going for a walk, Car Mechanic, Murderer, Dog hair, Ducks, Untested medicine, Forbidden love, Vacation, Awakening, Dentist, Wild west, Frozen Lake.
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Places left hand under my chin..Looks at today's date. I can handle waiting a few more days before checking out the book. Assuming I don't jump on the kindle :)
I feel you!
The pain is real waiting for the proof copies to arrive.
I dread the possible delay in the shipment - it still hasn't been shipped yet! :(
But I believe it will be all worth it. The cover (to me) looks absolutely amazing on screen, and I believe it will look downright gorgeous in print as well. For that alone it's worth it haha :D
Not to mention how awesome the table of contents is supposed to look... Considering it does come out as intended :p
So very happy to hear you're interested though!
Ah, thank you for a happy ending! All too rarely do I come across anything but apocalyptic, dystopian, brutal, or tragic stuff. And thanks for the "help" link to posting our own list of stories. And LOVE the title (I'm so gonna steal it), "written in five-ish minutes." ;)
Not a problem at all! :D Glad you enjoyed it! :D
I like writing (and reading) morbid stories, too, but it really depends on the day. Sometimes I'll write down the jolliest of events, and another time I'll murder everyone you hold dear (figuratively, of course).
Shrugs shoulders
You never know.
Feel free to steal the title, haha! :D All too often do I end up either with an idea that gets turned into a longer standalone story, or a story that ends at ~6 instead of 5 minutes. :3
But that's life. Nobody's perfect. ^^
And thank you so very much for the resteem! Means a lot to me! :D
You're most welcome.
Six minutes. Sheesh. I've never finished writing even the shortest of stories in six minutes!
Morbid stories are well and good, and the sell, and I'm a big girl. I can take it. I'd just rather smile at the end of a good yarn than shake my puny fist of rage at the injustice of the world. ;)
Might be because I usually have a general idea in mind already. :3 I just go with the first thing that pops to mind when I read the prompt and let the keyboard do the rest :p
Hmm, I've grown to be quite the opposite, really. All these happy ending movies and fairy tales we're fed with since the day we're born have made me want to experiment with the other side of the scale of justice - or at least with the reality of things, which isn't always rose-colored.
Sometimes the world sucks, and sometimes it doesn't. It's always going to be that way. :p Might as well write about the sucky parts to help balance out all the sugarcoated movies I've watched. :P
chiming in your conversation :) Of course, I can't speak for Carol, but for me, I think age might make a difference. I have seen so many real-life bad endings that I love to see/read good/positive/happy endings in my entertainment...
Might be.
I'm not saying we don't have it better off now, but I think it's mostly because the bad stuff gets filtered. Censored.
I believe we've been robbed of our freedom of speech, where the society will slowly alienate you if you don't fit its mold. :|
(This reply is worded really badly. Sorry about that, but I just woke up and slept only about 2 hours. haha :D)
Oh no- go back to sleep!!!
Well, that is a huge topic. Your country was in the East block at one time and I lived in the divided Germany. I was on the West side, but right on the border and we did travel to the East and sent packages and such. No printed material was allowed to be brought in and when we traveled - only train travel was possible, you could feel the change in the train car - the conversation stopped.
But I agree - even though we have the internet with its endless possibilities, we also have so many ways of suppressing speech.
That sounds awful!
But yeah, even still, we can't openly talk about many, many, maaany topics even with today's "supposed" freedom of speech.
We even get judged by our friends and family for trying to speak about a certain topic that is considered taboo, and it's sickening me.
It's sickening me that we've come so far that the society alienates you for speaking your mind instead of succumbing to the masses. ._."
It's not as brutally imposed as it used to, I very much agree with that.
But I do believe it's still very much there. Only a little more "subtle".
What a sweet ending!! Are you okay? Lol
Might be the insomnia coming through. :P
This is the sweetest thing ever happened in his life right? Such divine appointment at the flea market. Delightful.
Well, I am faithfully delivering the next prompt. And I can imagine how great the meeting will turn up to be after turning the door knob at the stranger's office. :)
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-302-5-minute-freewrite-friday-prompt-door-knob
Likely so, yes. I can only imagine how that must've felt. Having nothing one second, and having your life back in the next.
Makes your eyes water, thats a certain :p
Thanks for the prompt! :D
The stranger's office, you say? That could be fun. ;)