Everyone's A Salesman

Abe always thought about going in. The thing was that he never saw himself allowing himself to allot the time to stop in. He probably wasn’t welcome either. The ornate designs of everything old seemed to cry expensive. What’s worse, he thought, is I too am old and this stuff used to be cheap. Moreover, it wasn’t that Abe didn’t like paying for things; it’s just that there were relatively few things he could legally pay for.

What Abe could afford was fruit. Then he stole a plastic knife. Carrying one in each hand, he walked into the antique store with a smile on his face and his scent in the air. Before it reached the clerk at the back of the store he heard him ask, “Just wandering around?” Rather than talking, Abe let his appearance speak for him. The man came around a chest of drawers and realized Abe wasn’t the sale he was looking for. With a sigh the man said, “Sir I’m very sorry, but this store can only accommodate paying customers.”

Abe thought about a retort but before one came to mind, a pair of what looked like paying customers walked in. “Just wandering around?” the clerk asked. Abe froze. “Take a look at anything you like,” the clerk said to couple. He then walked over to Abe and said, “Sir I afraid you have to leave.” Knowing this was inevitable; Abe walked out and took his scent with him. Down the street he sat down on a step he never got kicked off and began to work the melon. It took a few minutes with the plastic knife but eventually he got it. He ate his honeydew and thought, “I can’t believe the clerk in the antique store had a line.” Then he got up and left. A few of the flies that had been tailing him stayed with the melon.