OAK VALLEY
As Grandville Beckett drove
down the mountain and past the sign that welcomed him to Oak Valley his
turquoise Neapolitan with luggage rack was reading almost empty. As he came into town he noticed a nice canon
sitting in the center of the traffic circle.
He also noticed that the speed limit had dropped considerably and so he
slowed down and rolled down his window to get the fresh morning breeze.
Grandville noticed a man standing next to the stop sign
and as he stopped the man jumped forward and began squirting his windshield
with soap bubbles. Quickly retrieving a
squeegee from his back pocket he pulled the bubbles across the glass - leaned
forward with his nose almost touching the glass and said, “Good-morning. Welcome to Oak Valley.” Just as quickly as the man had sprung out to
clean Grandville’s windshield he popped back and stood quietly next to the
stop sign. Grandville wanted to give the
guy a buck or two but the man never looked back at him; he just seemed
to stand poised, ready for the next passing car.
Beckett drove on slowly and as he passed the Sears Home
and Garden Center he noticed people being wheeled out front in wheelchairs
and being left there as if to get some morning sun. Just down the street he could see what looked
like a High School marching band out practicing. Their uniforms looked to be just plain white
gowns with matching slippers. He couldn’t
make out the music they were playing but thought he heard a glockenspiel. He wanted to stop and get his ocarina out of
his luggage and join in but quickly thought better of it and kept driving.
From his car window he could hear two men arguing on the
sidewalk in front of Badger Motors. “Badgers? Badgers?
We don’t need no stinking badgers.”
Grandville wasn’t sure what that was all about but thought the balloons
and painted sayings on the windshields of the used cars was quite a clever
sales ploy. Soon he found himself in
front of the Oak Valley General Hardware and then on his left he noticed the
sign that read, “Quiet – Hospital Zone”.
As he drove past what looked like the Hospital he could see a baseball
diamond and tennis courts to the side of the building. He then noticed a long line of service
trucks and on the side of each truck there was the same sign, GLOBAL VENDING,
INC.
Soon Mr. Beckett saw the sign he had been looking for, Ed’s
Mobil Diner. As he pulled in the
drive he could hear the faint (ding-ding) as his tires rolled over the hose for
the bell. Many folks seated in Ed’s
turned to look out. They hadn’t seen a
Neapolitan come through their town in many years and turquoise, well that was
really special.
Grandville got out of his car and went around to the
trunk.
Sal Manilla: “What-da-ya spoze he’s got in there Ed?”
Ed: “Don’t know Sal but it looks like a large box and he’s
pulling something out of it.”
Wanda Loop: “Quiet - here he comes.”
Grandville walked through the screen door of Ed’s and
placed a large covered tray on top of the counter. He then pulled the top off of the tray and
said,
“Here you
go folks. Fresh, still warm, chocolate
chip cookies.”
End of Part
One
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