'The Vase'
#
Magnificent, it was... Truly. A Dream. A Hope!
It was just sitting on a shelf, in a thrift type of store.
A silvery vase. It gleamed in the soft light through the
store windows. It glistened with magic... and mystery.
Like it could contain all the Secrets of the Universe?
Perhaps. And it did. Well, maybe one big-little secret.
A secret I would unlock soon, as I was a researcher of
many odd 'unknowns'... It paid very little, but so what?
#
It was, in other words... No ordinary vase? No.
It was indeed full of magical mystery. Full of
Star Light. The Light of a Million Suns. A-ha!
And... A Million-Billion Dreams as well? Yup.
The Vase glowed, just like my lady friend Luisa,
after a round of Saturday Night 'Hot Boogie' Sex?
U-huh. She and The Vase had 'captured' me? Yes!
#
At first sight of The Vase... I knew I must have it!
I was about to go up and grab it on the shelf,
when I noticed two men in dark suits at the
back of the store, vaguely looking at clothing.
I mean vaguely as in 'pretending interest'...
Maybe they were agents: agents unknown
from some ABC group type of agency? Uh!
#
But I did my best to be nonchalant...
Then grabbed The Vase off its perch & shelf.
Quickly got in line to pay for this 'Item': then left.
Those dark visages did their best to follow me in
their dark Ford sedan. The type used by cops and
undercover officers of The Law? Uh-huh. Yikes!
#
I lost them on the old clover-leaf turnpike.
But little good it did me. These guys had seen
my car and rear plate... But I figured they might,
so, I hid The Item with a friend. Nobody knows
that I know this friend but little old me? Yup!
#
"Tom, just keep this hidden... I'll come for it later,"
I told my friend. He owns a quaint little bookshop
across town. He knew a rare treasure when he saw
one, and The Vase was certainly that... Surely, it was.
Any rube at a flea market would gravitate to its charms.
#
I got home, taking a ridiculously long and circuitous route.
It was over an hour later, after I left my friend Tom's place,
when I finally arrived 'Home'. My tiny apartment, crammed
full of odds and ends: a drum kit from a rocker friend (a spare).
My electric and acoustic guitars; and a ukulele and keyboard synth.
In my spare amount of spare Time, as a paid researcher, I did play at
some local clubs and bars, just for the Fun, mind you. It was a hoot!
But some of my tunes showed promise: at least some friends said so.
#
The bastards were lying in wait, as I guessed they might be...
Just as I was enjoying a tuna fish sandwich... a loud knock on
the front door of Apt. C-23. I saw them through the peephole.
"Stenhammer... Come on Out! We know you have The Item..."
One of them said: the slightly shorter one, beefier in build.
"Yeah! You let Us have The Vase... And We won't bother you again...
Ever! And You simply do not want Us bothering You... ever again!"
This from the slightly taller of these two non-Fuller Brush Men.
#
"You may come on in... For a cup of Tea, if you like. Or some 'Mud',
whatever you prefer... I got some brewing right now. And you can
look for The Item... Tea, Coffee or Me hiding in the bathroom..."
This from me: one slightly scared bloke? Ahem... No joke.
"Anyways... the door is unlocked... So don't break the door down,
if you please... It's only a month old, and I rather like this one!"
I added, for no particular good measure. Yeah. But friendly like.
#
A quick half-hour or longer, later on:
"Stenhammer... We know you hid it somewhere... We'll figure it out."
This from the slightly taller of the Happy Twins. Then:
"Yeah... We won't rough ya' up... This Time!"
That, from the slightly shorter one, there.
The taller one spoke again, before they left:
"We'll give you 7 Days, a whole week. From 7 P.M., to
have it, The Item, back here... Before we rearrange your face."
After the door closed, I could hear the shorter, beefier one say
to his cohort: "I'd like to work him over... The Vase back, or not!"
'Oh, swell' I thought. But, not to worry. I would be gone by then...
#
For The Vase was a center of locution of many Forces. But one just
had to have The Key... The right approach and... Spoken Commands.
And, Thanks to a psychic, known only by me... I had those words? Yes.
The 'Happy Twins' were very, very sad and likely got a huge cut in pay,
when they never found me and The Item: 'The Vase'. Or its owner: Me!
We (The Vase, Lovely Luisa, and I) were soon in another, much-much
better Place & Rhyme, in that quickened, lightning fast 7 Days' Time.
A whole other Universe... Not that far away, but a Parallel One.
One full of Hope... And, of Real Love too!
(The End)
