A Short Story by John Daly

Copyright © 2009 by John Daly
This revised version was originally published in The Fiction Writer and Other Short Stories, which is copyright © 2007 by John Daly. No part of this story may be used without permission of the Author.

And so Magic came to live with them and their lives began immediately to change. The change was so gradual, and so unobtrusive, that at first it went unnoticed by the Mason family.

David was still not successful in obtaining a job. Every day he went out on the job interviews that he read about in the “help wanted” section of the paper. He was either over-qualified or under-qualified No one ever said directly that he was too old. That would have been against the law. Nevertheless, since most of the job application screeners were about half David’s age, he wondered if his date of birth was not always a factor in their decisions. How could it not be?

When he was not job hunting, he kept busy doing odd jobs around the house that he had been putting off doing for years. He loved doing this kind of work and he was very talented in all phases of home maintenance and repair. When he was working at the factory full time, he just never had the time to do those things.

His father had had the same talent. He taught David everything he knew, beginning when David was still a boy. David had been very close to his father, especially after his mother died. His father had died unexpectedly, soon after his mother. His father’s death resulted in David losing both parents in three years. David’s father had used all his assets paying for his mother’s prolonged hospital and nursing care in her final days.

After his mother died, his father moved into a rented house. His father’s total assets were a small pension and a tool collection. David was convinced that his father’s premature death was simply caused by grief from losing his beloved wife of 50 years. When he died, his father’s estate consisted primarily of his collection of elaborate tools.

“What in the world are you going to do with all these tools?,” asked Janet, when David stated bringing them home from his father’s house “Where are we going to store them?” When will you ever use them? You have tools of your own. Do you really need more?”

“I’ll store them in the basement for now. Some of these tools are different from mine. Dad had a great collection. I’ll sort them out later.”

One by one, David had found use for his father’s tools. He was glad he had saved them. His home repair projects, using his father’s tools, brought back fond memories of his father, and also kept him from thinking about his own financial condition.

At first David did not notice that his morning paper was opened to the “Help Wanted Handyman” section, instead of the section that contained the jobs that he was applying for. He assumed that someone in his family had opened the paper before he did. On the third day he became curious and read the advertisement. It was for a franchise that one could purchase to provide “handyman” services.

“That would be something I could do and enjoy,” thought David. “I wouldn’t need to pay a franchise fee to do that though. I would only need a truck, a business license and some customers. What am I thinking? I don’t have any of those. Still, it would be better than the constant rejections from all the applications I’ve been submitting. Dream on David, dream on.”

One day, David was on the bus ride back home from another job rejection. He happened to look out the window of the bus and saw a commercial van parked in a driveway with a “FOR SALE” sign displayed in its windshield. For some reason, he could not later explain, he got off the bus at the next stop and walked back two blocks to inspect the truck.

“What am I doing?,” he thought. “I don’t need a truck. I don’t have any money to buy a truck. That advertisement in the paper must have stimulated my sub-conscious about being a handyman. Still, it is a beauty. I wonder how much the owner is asking? It would be perfect for my use. That is if I were to become a handyman. Which I’m not. But if I were—-. It can’t hurt to go up to the house and ask. Then I’ll get this crazy idea out of my head before I do something stupid.”

So again, for some reason he could not later explain, David went up to the house and rang the front door bell. A very pleasant looking woman that David estimated to be in her early 60s opened the door and said pleasantly,

“Good afternoon. Can I help you?”

“It’s about the truck in your driveway,” said David.

“Would you like to buy it?”

“It depends on the price,” said David, wondering what in the world he was doing here.

“What do you want to do with the truck if I sell it to you?,” asked the lady in a very friendly manner. Her manner was so friendly that David could not help blurting out,

“I got laid off at the plant after working there for 30 years. I can’t find a job anywhere, although I have been trying everyday for months. I think my age is against me. My son may not be able to go to college now. My wife deserves better, though she never complains. I am handy with my hands. I can repair anything. I think maybe I could be self-employed as a handyman.” Then he paused and said,

“I can’t believe I just said all that to you.”

“What’s your name?”

“David Mason.”

“Please to meet you David. I’m Florence Haley. Come inside and let’s talk,” she said opening the door for him.

David entered the house and followed Florence into her living room. It was as pleasant, and as welcoming as she was. It reflected her personality completely. David became immediately relaxed, and very chatty.

“Why am I running my mouth so much?,” he thought. “I never saw this woman before in my life and I’m telling her my life’s story.”

Then without thinking further about it he again blurted out,

“Before we go any further Ms. Haley, I do not have any money to buy your truck. I don’t know why I was even looking at it, or even why I came up to your door. I’m sorry to have wasted so much of your time.”

As he started to leave Florence said,

“Sit down David. You’ve already indirectly told me that you don’t have any money. That’s a minor problem. I want to talk to you about something more important. And please call me Florence. That’s what my friends call me.”

“All right Florence, what do you want to talk about?,” asked David, softening the tone of his voice, as he sat down in a big chair.

“David, do you believe in luck, or divine intervention, or unexplained events?”

“I certainly do!,” said David, thinking about the big yellow dog that was now living with him.

“So do I!,” said Florence, with excitement in her voice.

“You don’t happen to own, or to have you seen, a big yellow dog recently?,” asked David suspiciously, as he looked around.

“What a strange question. No, I do not own a dog. I did have a cat once, but she passed away years ago. Why do you ask?”

“It’s a long story—-

“That’s odd, I did see a beautiful large yellow dog around here a few weeks ago,” she said, interrupting David. “He was down by the truck in my driveway. He kept walking around it, looking it over. He was so beautiful that I went out in the driveway and called to him. He just looked at me and sort of smiled like dogs do, and then he just walked away. One moment he was there, and the next moment he was gone. I haven’t thought about him since then, until you mentioned ‘a big yellow dog’.”

David almost fell out of his chair when he heard about the yellow dog in the driveway around the truck.

“Does that dog live around here?,” he asked quietly.

“I don’t think so. I hadn’t seen him before that day, and I haven’t seen him since. Why is that dog so important to you anyway?”

“As I started to say before, it’s a long story that I may tell you someday. Now what did you want to talk to me about?”

(To be continued…)

A Short Story by John Daly

Copyright © 2009 by John Daly
This revised version was originally published in The Fiction Writer and Other Short Stories, which is copyright © 2007 by John Daly. No part of this story may be used without permission of the Author.

David Mason was really tired. He had been job hunting from the leads he had read about in this morning’s newspaper. He had filled out 10 applications today, but had not been interviewed once. David knew his job skills were limited to those he used at the GM plant. He was willing to learn new job skills. He was willing to go to school on his own, or to a company school. He was only fifty two years old. He had worked all his life. He just wanted a job. He had spent almost all his savings to support his family since he was “laid off”. Things did not look good.

“Thanks for coming in,” the young man at the desk said, as he took David’s application. “We’ll call you if we have any openings that fit your job skills.”

David choked back his anger at the attitude of this condescending young twit, who was not much older than Billy Joe. He just smiled and said,

“Thank you, sir. I hope I hear something from you. I am available immediately and I would be willing to relocate to another city.”

After he left the employment office, David thought, “Janet would be devastated if she had to give up her house and move to another city. She would do it cheerfully though, because they were in this together. Still, she would be devastated! I am a lucky man to have such a loving and supportive wife. I couldn’t get through this period of my life without her support. I’m going to tell her that again tonight. I haven’t told her enough how much I love and appreciate her. It’s as hard on her as it is on me. I just wish my luck would change and I could find work.”

David had been going into the city by bus instead of driving. The jobs he applied for were not in the city, but the employment offices were all there. The bus was less expensive than the cost of driving and parking. David was very cost conscious these days.

He got off the bus and started walking the few blocks to his home. Sometimes, in the past on the way home, he had stopped off at a neighborhood bar to have a drink and commiserate with other men who had been unsuccessfully job hunting. Not tonight though. David had never been a drinking man and he didn’t want to start acquiring that habit now. It was too expensive and did not help the situation.

“I haven’t seen much of Billy Joe since he started working,” he thought. “That college thing is just one more problem we just have to solve. I want him to go to college! He’s a good student and a fine young man. Look how he pitched in by working to help us out financially. I just can’t let him down,” he muttered to himself.

As he was walking along, David saw a huge yellow dog directly in front of him, smiling and wagging his tail in a friendly manner. The dog was completely blocking the sidewalk causing David to stop a few feet from the dog.

“Hey fella, how’re ya doin?”

The dog kept smiling and wagging his tail and began a happy dog dance. David couldn’t help but smile at the dog’s enthusiasm.

“Why are you so happy, boy? Did you find a job today? I didn’t. Maybe if I had, I’d be smiling too and doing a little dance on the sidewalk just like you.”

The dog just kept smiling and wagging his tail and continued with his dancing.

“I wish some of the people in Human Resources had half of the people skills that you have. I’ve had my fill of them. They sure are a surly lot. You, on the other hand, don’t have a job for me, but you sure make me feel good. Incidentally, my name’s David, what’s yours?”

The dog stopped dancing, but continued to wag his tail and look directly at David in a friendly manner.

“I’d sure like to bring you home with me to spread some of your contagious joy in my house. We are in short supply of happiness and good times there since I lost my job. I know Janet and Billy Joe would be glad to meet you. You would certainly pick up their spirits!”

“That’s not such a bad idea either,” David thought. “But, this dog is too healthy and too good looking not to have an owner. Besides how could I afford to feed him? He could eat table scraps and stuff we always waste. I’ll bet the neighbors have extra food they also throw away,” David thought, completely rationalizing his spur of the moment decision.

“I’ve never seen you around here before fella. Where do you live? Have you been abandoned? I see you are not wearing a collar. Did you run away from home to seek adventure and see the world?”

The dog just stared at David and wagged his tail furiously. David looked around to see if anyone was going to come up and claim this beautiful dog. The streets in all directions were deserted. No cars, no pedestrians. A good sign.

“Would you like to come home with me and meet my family?,” David asked. “Perhaps you could even stay for dinner. Of course I’ll have to introduce you as an old friend, not someone I just met. You understand, don’t you boy? It’s just that my family is sort of in a state of shock just now. Things have been pretty grim around the house recently. It may take a little while before they seem hospitable. You’ll like them though, you’ll see. I know I love them both very much. You will too once you get to know them.”

David started walking home. The dog immediately fell in beside him and started walking with him. David was surprised to see the dog walking with him so naturally and without any hesitation. Fearing the moment might pass before they reached his home, David stopped talking to the dog.

As they turned into the street where David lived the dog, once again, immediately ran ahead, and without stopping, turned into the walk leading up to the house where David lived. Then he again walked up on the front porch, stopped and turned facing the sidewalk and waited for David to catch up.

David arrived a few minutes later.

As his son Billy Joe had done before him, he had lost track of the dog when he
ran ahead. He too was surprised to see the dog on his front porch, his tail still wagging.
He stared at the dog in astonishment!

“How did you know that I lived here?,” he asked. “Do I know you? I can’t believe I wouldn’t remember you if you had been to my house before. Are you a trained dog? Is this some kind of trick someone is playing on me?”

(To be continued…)

A Short Story by John Daly

Copyright © 2009 by John Daly
This revised version was originally published in The Fiction Writer and Other Short Stories, which is copyright © 2007 by John Daly. No part of this story may be used without permission of the Author.

“If a big yellow dog
comes into your life,
it was sent
by the gods
to relieve you of strife.”

Chinese Philosopher
Sin Lin Ho
216-156 BC

It was a beautiful sunny day in September. The hint of fall was just beginning to assert itself into the air. The leaves had put on their flamboyant season display before leaving the trees and falling to sleep on the ground. No one should be unhappy on a day like this. It was too perfect to spoil with any negative thoughts.

Billy Joe Mason was not happy. How could he be? This was the first day of his senior year in Fairmont High School. Billy Joe had met with Mr. Sampson, his high school student advisor this morning. The mandatory meeting had been dreaded by Billy Joe. He had thought about it all summer. He knew what Mr. Sampson was going to say, and he agreed with the message. The meeting had gone just as he expected it would.

“Billy Joe, this is your last year to get it right,” said Mr. Sampson.

“I know sir,” replied Billy Joe.

“Ever since you and I started meeting, when you were just a freshman, we talked about your going to college after you graduated from Fairmont. We even talked about the colleges you were going to apply to in your senior year. This is your senior year!

I definitely felt that you were college material. Your grades reinforced my belief. You were an A student until last year, but halfway through your junior year your grades started to drop dramatically! You went from being an A student to being a C student. Billy Joe, in order for you to get in any college you must do well on your SAT, and you must have good grades. Your student activities are not bad. You are a delegate to the Student Government, a member of the football and basketball teams, and on the staff of the school newspaper. You should participate in more activities; but it’s your grades that need immediate repair.”

Billy Joe could only sit there in Mr. Sampson’s office and silently absorb Mr. Sampson’s verbal assault. He could not tell him that no matter what his grades were his parents did not now have the money to send him to college. He could not tell Mr. Sampson that, this summer, his father had been “laid off” off from his job at the GM factory after 30 years of being a loyal and dedicated employee. He could not tell Mr. Sampson that his father was so distraught, that his father, once a non drinker, had started drinking and was very depressed. He could not tell Mr. Sampson that his father had not been able to get another job, although he tried every day. He could not tell Mr. Sampson that not only was he not going to be able to go to college, he might have to drop out of high school, and go to work to help his father support his family.

“I’ll try to do better, sir,” said Billy Joe softly.

“I heard about your dad losing his job,” said Mr. Sampson. “I’m really sorry, Billy Joe. I know it must be difficult for your family right now. You might have even considered not finishing high school and going to work to help out at home. That would be a very bad mistake! Do not ever think about not finishing high school! You would regret it the rest of your life.”

“I don’t think my father would like us talking about this subject, Mr. Sampson,” said Billy Joe, hesitantly. “My father is a proud man. He has worked all his life. He can’t stand to be unemployed.”

“I understand what he is feeling,” said Mr. Sampson. “I would hate to lose my job here at the school. Unfortunately he is not the only one in this town who has lost his job through no fault of their own. It is hard for him and your family to believe this right now, but things will get better. But while we are waiting for that to happen let’s all direct our energies to your getting a college education.”
Billy Joe left the school and started walking home. He was deep in thought, still smarting from the verbal lashing he had received from Mr. Sampson. He reviewed in his mind the unpleasant meeting, and what he wished he had said instead of what he actually said.

“It’s easy for you to comment on what my grades should be, Mr. Sampson,” he would have said. “No one knows better than me, I mean I, know how bad they are. It’s hard to be motivated to make good grades when you can also graduate with just average grades. A high school diploma earned with C grades is just as valid as one earned with A grades. If you can’t afford to go to college, who cares what your grades are in high school?”

Billy Joe continued walking, deep in thought, over his “could have said” conversation. He was abruptly jolted from his reverie by the sight of a very large yellow dog directly in his path. Normally, he had a healthy respect for dogs who were strangers to him. If he did not know their owners, or the dog’s personality, he gave them a wide berth. However, this dog looked friendly. In fact he looked like he was actually smiling at Billy Joe. His tail was wagging in a happy friendly manner. Billy Joe felt like the dog was actually trying to speak to him with facial gestures and body language. He, and the dog, stood facing each other, no more than ten feet apart.

Billy Joe judged the dog’s weight to be about 110 pounds. He was a big dog!

He was the color of butter from his head to the end of his tail. Billy Joe was no authority on the various breeds of dogs. He had no idea what breed this dog was.

“Hi there boy, how’re ya doin?,” he asked. The dog smiled more broadly, wagged his tail faster, and did a little dog dance to show his pleasure at Billy Joe’s greeting.

“You are a big dude. Do you live around here? I’ve never seen you before. You are not wearing a collar. You must belong to someone. Where do you live?”

In reply, the dog did more of his dog dance.

“Well it’s been nice talking to you. I’ve got to go home now. I’ve got things to do. See you later. Hope you get home all right. Tell your owner to get you a collar with your name and address on it. So long boy.”

Billy Joe now having no fear of the dog started to walk past him. The dog, still smiling, fell in beside him and started walking with him.

“Whoa boy, you can’t go with me,” Billy Joe said, reaching down and petting the dog. “Your owner will be worried about you. Go on home boy. GO—–NOW!” The dog just looked at Billy Joe, smiled, and wagged his tail some more.

The standoff between them continued for a few more minutes. Billy Joe then decided to break the impasse. He started to walk around the dog again and continue on to his house.

The dog immediately fell in beside him and again started walking with him, all the while wagging his tail, seeming to be happy for the company.

“OK, big fella, I give up. Where are you going? I’m going home, how about you? Are you walking me home? Are you lost? Are you hungry? You look well fed and very healthy.”

No answer from the dog. He just kept smiling and wagging his tail.

So they walked along together for some time enjoying each other’s company. After awhile, they turned into the street where Billy Joe lived. The dog immediately ran ahead, and without stopping, turned into the walk leading up to the house were Billy Joe lived. He then walked up on the front porch, stopped and turned facing the sidewalk and waited for Billy Joe to catch up.

Billy Joe arrived a few minutes later. He had lost track of the dog when it ran ahead. He was surprised to see him on his front porch, his tail still wagging.

“Hey boy, how did you know this was where I was going? I know for a fact that you don’t live here. So why did you come here?”

The dog did another dog dance, smiled, and wagged his tail.

(To be continued…)