Monday, December 3, 2012

CFF #1: Harley at the Mall by TJ Marshall

To kick off our Christmas Flash Fiction contest, please welcome TJ Marshall, whose character Harley stars in many hilarious adventures. In this one, Harley discovers something's not quite right about the Santa at his local mall...Read on and be sure to leave a comment!

by

TJ Marshall

“I’m telling you Hank, he’s fer real.” Harley leaned back in his rocker chair and sipped his beer.

“Ah Harley, ev’ry time you say something like that, it ends up costing me.”

“So, you’re saying you don’t want a cut? We could score big this Christmas.”

“I’m not saying nothing. It’s just you got a big problem with getting excited over everything.” Hank grabbed a cold beer from the cooler then sat down on a stool.

“What if I could prove it?” Harley belched. “What then?”

“You can’t prove nothing of the sort.” He popped the top and drank from his can. “Santa’s a figment of somebody’s ima… imagan… someone made him up. And you knows as well as I do, that one in the mall’s just an actor.”

“Not when I was there. He was fer real like I said.”

“Oh come on, Harley.  Why you believe that?

“You wants to hear the story?”

“Do I have a choice? You bought the beer.”

Harley drained his can then held his hand out to his friend.

 Hank leaned over and dug into the cooler.  He swished the ice around then pulled a can with a big blue ribbon on the side.  He threw it to the old man in the rocker.

“Thanks.” He pushed the porch floor with his feet, setting the rocker in motion. “Alright, remembers I told you I was going to the mall a few days ago?”

“Yeah, you said you needed to get a new stick shift knob fer your truck.”

“Yep, that were the time.  Well, they had the Santa stand all set up in the space by the fountain.”

“It’s called a feryer.”

“Whatever they calls it, they had it made up like the north pole done relocated to Shelmaville.  There were barber poles dressed up with white fluff making them looked like it done snowed, and a green and red throne big enough to make yer daddy proud.

All around there were decorations.  They had a huge tree done up in lights and strings of popcorn. The gold star at the top nearly touched the glass roof. Underneath they done placed gifts with giant red bows glittering with sparkles.”

“I know what it looks like, Harley.  I went there just yesterday.”

“So why’s you let me say all that?”

Hank shrugged and chuckled. 

“I’m of a mind to not tell you now.”  Harley clicked his tongue and looked toward the muddy driveway.

 “Oh, go on. You know you wants to tell me, so finish your story.”

Harley shook his head and narrowed his eyes at the other. “Well, like I done said, they had it all decorated. In front of it all, there were a line of young’uns with their mothers that reached to the mall doors.  They were going on about what they planned to ask Santa for and fidgeting like they were in line for an outhouse.”

“So whatcha do?”

“I walked past them all and went to the hardware store. What did you think I was going to do? Stand in that line?”

“No… but… nevermind.”

“Well, after fighting the crowd at Sares, and getting my part fer a decent price, I headed back towards the entrance, ready to go and fix up my truck. That’s when everything changed fer me.”

Hank leaned forward, holding his beer in both hands. “What changed fer you?”

“Everything I thought I knew about Santa.”

“What happened?”

“I was coming up on the… fer-yer?” He looked at Hank who nodded. “When Santa got outta his chair and walked my way.  I took a good look at him because something seemed odd.  All the other Santa’s I had done seen where plain and you could tell they were actors.  They’d have those strap-on beards and you could see the outline of a pillow under their suits.

“This guy, though, was different.  His long white beard was real.  His fat was real.  And instead of a plain poly-hester costume, his suit was real.  It looked like red velvet and it done had green trimming that sparkled like stars.  His eyes were as blue as the sky in middle of spring turkey season and his cheeks and thick nose were red and chapped like he done stood in the cold fer too long.”

“That doesn’t sound like the guy I saw.  He had one of them tie-on beards.”

“See? I told you, this guy was different.  My stomach started acting up as he walked toward me.  At first I thought I ate something that didn’t agree with me, but when I started to sweat, I just knew something special was about to happen.  I’ll never forget what he said to make a believer outta me fer good.”

“What did he say?”

“He looked at me with his bluer than blue eyes and says, ‘Excuse me, Harley. I need to get by.’”

“He said that? He used yer name?”

“He did as sure as I’m sitting here.” He crossed his arms, leaned back and nodded his head.”

Hank stared at him then sighed. “Harley, weren’t you wearing that shirt when you went to the mall?”

“The very same.”

“Well, it’s got yer name right there on yer chest.”

“No it don’t.” He moved his arms, smiling and allowed his friend to read the green oval over his right breast pocket. “This is your shirt.”

****




BioTJ Marshall is a father of two adorable girls, a career soldier and a writer of fiction.  TJ just entered the world of writing in January 2012 when he enrolled in the F2K creative writing course.  Since completing the course, he has gone on to join Writer's Villiage university participated in this year’s National Novel Writer’s Month for the first time and won.  He is currently working on his first novel, a fantasy adventure titled The Finder’s Tome. It is scheduled for release in late spring, 2013 as an e-book. In his spare time, TJ enjoys creating custom designed dream catchers and spending time with his girls.


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33 comments:

  1. Thank you Mysti for posting this contest. This was fun to write.

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  2. Good show, TJ. I felt I was there sipping Blue Ribbon with the guys. Great twist ending.

    maruxa

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  3. This was great, I'm sitting here grinning. Thanks, TJ! :)

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    1. Thanks Kat! I'm glad it made you smile.

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  4. Santa is REAL!!! Harley wouldn't lie. :) Really nice work on this, TJ! Nice presentation, Mysti.

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  5. Nice job TJ; I enjoyed your story. :0)

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  6. Hey Thomas :)
    That was a delightful tale to read, Harley and his friend were hilarious with their banter and country boy naiveness :) Great job on this and warmest holidays to you and yours!
    -Leila

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    1. Thank you very much, Leila. I'm glad you enjoyed these two good ole boys. Happy Holidays to you as well.

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  7. Thanks TJ. Fun read! Great visuals!

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    1. Thank you,Debbie. I'm really glad you liked it.

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  8. Hi TJ, loved the story. I always knew there was a real Santa Claus.

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    1. Leo!

      I am so happy you liked my story. Thanks for the comment.

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  9. Hey TJ - The ending got me - I loved it! I enjoyed the easy dialogue between the two as well. Where else can I find your stories with Harley in it? :)

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    1. Hey Amelia,

      Thanks for reading and commenting. I don't know if you are a member of WVU, but if you are you can find some of Harley's adventures in the Flash Dance group forum.

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    2. Oh, also I wrote a Harley story in F2K as a prompt reply in Mysti's classroom.

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  10. Can Harley get me a piece Santa's beard? My daughter put that request in her letter to Santa.

    Great story, very funny. You set the scene and brought the characters to life.

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    1. lol Christina. I'll have to ask him. ;)

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  11. What a fun story, TJ! You should see the grin you put on my face.

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    1. Hey Mum, I'm glad you enjoyed this. Thanks for stopping by.

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  12. LOL Very funny! Loved the dialogue. Mysti, these contests are great. :)
    Merry Christmas, everyone!

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  13. TJ, nice story. I enjoyed the free and easy banter of these two chums over a Blue Ribbon beer. Nice send off for the month.
    Tom

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    1. Hey Tom, thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you enjoyed this story. See you around!

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  14. I enjoyed your story. I thought it was going to be a novel, so I was ready for more, am still am. I always enjoy your writing. E.

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    1. Hey E!

      Thank you so much for coming by and reading my story. I'm truly glad you liked it.

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  15. Great stuff, TJ :) I love your sense of humor.

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    1. Hi Josh!

      Thanks for stopping by. See you around!

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