The exercise:
Write about: the treasure.
Because, somehow or another, I've yet to use that as a prompt.
Also: I managed to finish going through the boxes of my old stuff that were waiting for me in the garage and in the computer/office room. I really didn't think I'd have the time to sort through everything, but I got there. Definitely had trouble putting more than a few items into the discard pile, but I just kept reminding myself that no matter how nice it would be to keep certain items... they'd just end up back in a box or on a shelf, forgotten or ignored.
I picked out a bag's worth of stuff (my own limit) to bring back with us. It's mostly things for Max, but I did find a couple items that should come in handy for me in Osoyoos. I'm also leaving behind three bins worth of things that I'm getting my parents to continue to store for me.
If you think that's a lot, please be aware that there were something like ten or eleven boxes when I started.
Anyway. We're catching the ferry back to Vancouver tomorrow, where we'll be splurging on a hotel for the night before finishing the drive home to Osoyoos on Tuesday.
Not particularly looking forward to Max having to part ways with Nana and Pop in the morning.
Mine:
Crap. Garbage. Garbage. Crap. What the... oh.
Why would I even keep this in the first place? It should have been tossed in the trash twenty years ago.
Twenty years. God, that's more than half my life.
Nope. Not going down that road, thank you very much. Keep on target. Keep... on... target.
Crap. Garbage. Can't possibly still work. Probably never did. Crap. Ugh, embarrassing. Where's the paper shredder again?
There, that's a satisfying sound, isn't it? Now, where was I? Oh. Right.
Garbage. Garbage. Garbage. Gar... wait, what's this? Oh, man. I played with this little car so much when I was a kid. Just utterly loved the colors. Always ran so smooth. I can't believe it's still in such good shape.
That's one for the keeper pile - Max will get it after we're back home. It'll be so neat to see him playing with it.
Nice.
Crap. Garbage. Crap. Garbage. Crap...
6 comments:
The funny thing is, if you had time before you left to leave it a day and then go through those three bins again... you'd probably take it down to just the one :) As you already noted, if you actually insist on your brain explaining where, when or how you'll make use of something again, 95% of everything ends up in the throwing-out pile. Which reminds me, it's probably time I tidied up all the storage places in the flat again... :)
Heh, I like the litany in your tale, and the reason for keeping the car. I hope Max likes it as much as you did/do!
Treasure
"My name's Treasure," said the petite woman sat on the barstool. Her feet, even in her heels, didn't reach the ground and her dress was figure-hugging, which unfortunately emphasized the slight hunch in her back. Her smile was brilliant and bubbly, but her teeth were slightly yellowed and just a little bit crooked. Her nose was snub and she wrinkled it in a way that made hearts melt, but the freckles across it were too heavy and her face looked a little bit like a map of the Milky Way. "What made you pick my profile out then?"
Harvey smiled lugubriously, his hands damp with sweat already. He'd been unsure about this online dating thing at first, and he wasn't entirely comfortable in the bar yet either. Normally people shouted at him for staring at the pool-players or for picking up someone's else drink and drinking it.
"You were a bargain, right," he said, his voice a little thick, as though he didn't practice using it enough.
"..." The expression on Treasure's face made him feel that he needed to explain.
"Right, when you go shoppin', right," he said feeling flustered. He could feel himself beginning to flush. "When you go shoppin' you don' pay full price for all t'vegetables right? Am I right, right? You picks out the slightly soft ones, the ones that are a bit on the turn, maybe even a bit manky but where you can cut the bad bits out right, right? Right? And then you gets them for cheap, but there's just as much good eat'n on 'em really."
"I'm a bit manky, right?" Treasure's voice could have added ice-cubes to any drink in the bar. Around the couple the volume of conversation was dropping as people tried to eavesdrop.
"Well, like no, right?" said Harvey running one finger around inside his collar wondering why it was so hot in here. "Like, no. But you're not like a supermodel right, and I thought when I saw you that you, right, prob'ly, right, would'n like throw stuff at me, righ–" The remains of a long-island iced tea splashed over his face.
"...right."
"I am not a bargain!" Treasure bounced up from her stool, standing on the foot-rest, over-balanced and toppled into Harvey's arms.
"Wuz that your own drink you threw at me?" he asked, his eyes yearning.
"Of course not!" snapped Treasure. Harvey's smile was wondrous to behold.
Treasure:
The captain buried his face in the chest, throwing gold coins and gems around him as he did so. It had been a long and arduous search, indeed, and nearly all of his crew had perished. But he finally had his hands on the famed treasure! It was all his! He was rich beyond his wildest dreams!
He began scooping up his newfound wealth and stashing it into the sacks. So engrossed was he that he didn't turn around and notice the bloodthirsty pirate sneaking up on him. By the time he did, it was too late.
A solitary gunshot rang through the night, accompanied by the silent scream of the felled captain.
Oops, forgot to remind you that I'd left a few things that I thought Max might like - they were on your pile in the back room. Did you get a chance to evaluate them for treasure/crap? :-)
Take the time
Relationships
Endure
Always
Speak your love
Until you
Rest for-
Ever.
I know the feeling, Marc. I tend to keep thinks I think have a sentimental value but, in actuality, I just have a hard time throwing things away.
The Treasure:
Before me stood two chests, both easily capable of being a man’s final resting place. The one on my right was gilded in gold while the one at my left was clad in silver. I tentatively reached out a hand and lifted the golden lid.
In the low light of the cave, I could see everything in world, both known and unknown, that could glitter. There were gold coins from every era, stamped with every kind of face and symbol would could link to power. Gems ranging in value from the size of a fingernail to that of a fist were dispersed, looking like pieces of a shattered rainbow. I saw rubies, diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and opals. There were pieces of onyx, lapis lazuli, amethyst, pearl, and garnet. Anything you could barter with, spend, and horde was dimly glowing before my eyes.
Many greedy palms would consider that chest as the Horde of Nations. But I knew better. I knew that before gold reached its value, silver was in fact more treasured. Thus, I turned my galloping heart towards the second chest.
Whereas the other chest gleamed, this one simply sat there in its glory. There were pages upon pages of script, scattered to and fro in no conceivable order. There were curly scripts, jaunting scripts, strange symbols and patterns I could not decipher. I saw the jet black strokes of relatively recent ink on a handful of the pages I leafed through, though the vast majority had faded to a light grey or a muddy red.
The gold chest was the decoy, meant to entice the easily persuaded with a quick fame that would no doubt leave them dead in a ditch by the very people they always longed an acquaintance with. The silver chest was the true Horde of Nations.
Knowledge has always been, and always will be, the greatest wealth of all.
Greg - nah, I'm pretty sure I kept the essentials. I'd probably have wound up adding more things back in, actually...
Good lord, that is a fun tale. Harvey is a great character (I hope to hear from him again... with or without Treasure) and that ending is spot on :)
Nikhil - yeah, that's the trouble with treasure, isn't it? Always more people wanting it for their own than willing to share...
Nicky - I found them, thanks! I salvaged a few books for Max and... maybe something else. Can't remember at the moment. But thanks for thinking of him :)
Morganna - lovely. Really, truly lovely.
Ivybennet - I like to pretend I'm not a pack rat. But then I go home and look through all my stuff and... hmm :P
Some great descriptions in this one, and I quite agree with the ending sentiment.
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