Clouds

Days inside provoked the widow to assemble a garage sale in front of her home on a Sunday morning. She realized after lugging a few things outside that it was a lot more work than planned. She put the remainder of her late husband’s belongings on the front porch steps. The yard quickly filled with shoppers and she found herself getting dizzy under the sun.
A woman approached her carrying a pair of black and silver cuff links in her hands. “Why, wherever did you get these?” The woman asked.
“All of the items on the steps belonged to my late husband. He’s been gone now for over twenty years and I realized there were boxes of his things still in the garage. Figured it was about time to let go of them.”
“How odd.”
“What is so odd about it?”
“No, I mean I have seen these before. I gave them to someone.”
“Really, small world.” The widow wiped sweat from her forehead by dabbing it with a tissue. “
“I’d like to purchase these, if you don’t mind.”
“Why on Earth would I mind? They’re for sale.”
“Oh, nothing. Really, nothing. How much are they?”
“I suppose four dollars. They aren’t worth much.”
“Really, they are. I mean, are you sure.” The shopper stared at the cuff links and turned them over in her hand. “See, the back. They are sterling silver.”
“Pay more then, Dear. Give me what ever you want. Please.” The widow was growing impatient, hot and feeling that this yard sale idea had been a mistake. The shopper glared at her and handed her a five dollar bill. As she walked away she lightly touched the edges of the dead man’s clothing as if tracing a shape with her finger tip. She strolled slowly back to her car. She stared at the cuff links as if studying them. The widow watched her get into her car. She thought she saw the woman wipe away something from the corner of her eye.
The widow leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The sounds of chattering people around her was giving her a headache.
How much? How much? How much.? I’ll give you two. That’s too much. Does it work? How much? That much?
She opened her eyes and looked at the potted plant hanging overhead. A clump of grass was growing out of the side and pointed to the sun, to the sky, to the clouds that formed puffy clumps of white in the shape of a man’s genitals. She burst out laughing.
Those around her gave her an odd glance and moved away.
“Are you all right?” A young lady asked.
“What a dick,” The widow replied. “All these years I’ve been moping around like my life was over and the guy was a cad.”
She stood up, swatted the seat of her pants to knock off the dust and walked to the center of the yard.
“OK, the sale’s over. Everyone out.”
“Is something wrong?” The same young woman asked.
“No, nothing is wrong. I mean, yes, everything is wrong. I’m taking all this stuff in and selling it on E-Bay. I’m tired of giving everything away. Giving my love away, giving my freedom away, giving my time away, giving my life away.”
“It’s just a bunch of junk,” an angry bald headed man shouted and through the hat he had been looking at down on the steps.
“Junk to you, but to someone else it will be vintage. Now everyone clear out and get out of my yard.”
The widow slowly dragged the unsold merchandise back in, thinking she would probably spend more money on a chiropractor than she ever make in a yard sale. She felt her lower back ache. She glanced up at the cloud formation and it was gone. She wondered if she had imagined the whole thing. And yet, where had he gotten those cuff links. She knew she had never bought them. She spent another hour moving items inside and then slumped on the sofa with a carton of cookies and a pitcher of iced tea. She watched the beginning of an old movie and fell asleep. She woke abruptly with the startling realization that she had been dreaming of the cloud formation that she had seen in the sky earlier in the afternoon.

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