Episode 17

OAK VALLEY

 

The Search for Spot

 

            The place, Oak Valley Cleaners:  The time, oh, just a few minutes ago.  Scott Guard, owner of OVC had just flipped the front door sign over to read OPEN.  It was Saturday morning and just like always he would be open from 8 until noon.

 

            Just down the block little Tommy was riding his bike while tossing The Running Sap Morning Edition at each front door along Main.  Sparky lay still sleeping, curled up next to the old fire truck at the station.  Then, just as the narrator of this story was about to tell you something really good the little silver bell started to tinkle over the Valley Cleaners door.

 

            It was Pat Pending, Oak Valley’s most eccentric resident.  He was an inventor who lived just out past Wanda’s dress shop.

 

Pat:  “Scott, Scott!  You back there?”

 

Scott:  “Hold on, I’m coming.  What is it?  Oh, hi Pat, what brings you out so early?”

 

Pat:  “I think I’ve struck on something and there’s nobody awake in this town to tell.  I saw your lights on and headed this way.”

 

Scott:  “Well what is it?  What did you invent this time?”

 

Pat:  “Here, watch this…”

 

            Pat held out a white pillowcase.  Then he took a small plastic squeeze bottle from his pocket and squeezed a drop of the brown fluid onto the pillowcase.  As the two men stood watching another person entered the cleaners.  It was none other then Wanda Loop.

 

Wanda:  “Pat, here you are.  I heard you making all kinds of commotion this morning.  What’s going on?”

 

Scott:  “Here, look at this.”

 

            Scott, Wanda, and Pat stood staring at the small brown spot on the pillowcase.

 

Wanda:  “Looks like you got a spot on your pillowcase.  What did you get on it anyway?”

 

Pat:  “This,” he said, showing her the plastic bottle.

 

Scott:  “What’s it going to do?”

 

Pat:  “Look, there it goes.”

 

            As the three watched, the pillowcase turned paisley.  All over and all at once, the white pillowcase transformed right before them.

 

Scott:  “WOW!  Look at that!”

 

Wanda:  “That’s incredible.  You’ve invented liquid paisley!”

 

Pat:  “Yes, but I think I’m too late for the paisley craze.  You know, that was back in the 60”s.”

 

Scott:  “Yeah, you’re right.  What else you got?”

 

            Meanwhile…  Across town, Stubby Bristle, the town street sweeper, follows the long winding curb, his swirling brushes sweeping up the occasional pop can, litter and the occasional table.  He was getting the town ready for the upcoming Oak Valley Parade.  For today is Flounder’s Day.  The original founder of Oak Valley was a North Canadian fisherman, who came up Meadow Muffin Lake - hooked himself a flounder for his lunch and then took a nap.

 

            Every year Oak Valley has a parade down Main Street to celebrate this great day.  This year’s parade was going to be special, as now, for the first time; Oak Valley has a marching band.  The Grapeknee High Marching Band, dressed in their hospital gown uniforms that tie in the back will be playing their brand new instruments from Oak Rental, as led by Phil Harmonic, Grapeknee High’s newly hired bandleader.

 

 

            Well…  will Pat Pending’s paisley pillowcase pose problems?  And, what will the Marching Band be playing in their hospital gown uniforms --- Seventy-Sick Trombones?.

 

            So, tune in again tomorrow, actually later this afternoon, when you’ll hear Dolores Loop say, “Plaggen-hoffen, Ump Pa Pa, Ump Pa Pa.”