Knowing the Right Moment: A Collection of Short Stories

By Dave Clampitt

The individuals you will encounter here are unique but believable. Follow the trail of mystery and curiosity to the inevitable but surprising end. Albert doesn’t just sell magazines, he can see answers for the downtrodden. Mr. Jiggs is a four legged deity with a sense of humor. Meet a florist with a taste for blood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Sep 21, 2018
• ISBN: 9781483490267

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CLAMPITT

Copyright © 2018 Dave Clampitt.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9025-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9026-7 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 08/21/2018

Knowing the Right Moment is a unique and intriguing collection of stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary acts. It has been my pleasure reading and editing these stories. The writer is gifted with a talent for finding the original and interesting side of life. Ordinary people are endowed with extraordinary gifts and insights. The following is a brief explanation of each tale that will inspire you to pick up this book. Enjoy this talented writer.

Pattee Baggett, Auburn, WA

• The Fountain of Youth Wore a Dog Collar touches on the strange streaks of light in the night sky. There are some of those streaks that make it to earth. This streak brought a surprise with it.

• Albert Livingston shows that Albert doesn’t just sell newspapers and magazines, he has a special talent.

• Cold Chili Peppers takes you to the hot desert where some people have lost their mind roaming around in the heat but Miss Givens has a different problem with her mind.

• The Little Green Box describes what happens when you find a mysterious object in an unexpected place.

• Little Green Feathers tells the story of an adventure with a green parrot and a family with secrets.

• Mr. Jiggs makes the reader believe in miracles. Even you can’t talk, doesn’t mean you can’t give directions.

• The Night Flower describes the power of the poinsettia also known as the night flower.

• Millie Rode Her Pony Bareback shows that courage and trust work well together but only when someone uses them.

• Teapot Genie reaffirms that you should not believe all that you see and only half of what you hear.

• Ani-man-imals gives the reader a glimpse of the dark side in research that is never spoken of

Dedicated

to Pam Thorpe

We have all seen some strange streaks of light in the night sky. There are some of those streaks that make it to earth. This streak brought a surprise with it.

Why This Fountain of Youth

Wore a Dog Collar

D oug Marble was driving out to a job site 45 miles south of the famous Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site when he spotted something odd. Way out in this hot, dry desert in the middle of nowhere, Doug found something unusual. He drove across the cheat grass, took a shortcut over the scab land, and suddenly, out the window of his big pickup, he saw an odd-looking plant. This one is strange, he thought, because of the color and shape of the leaves. They look like thumb-sized purple and yellow crystal shapes.

He turned to get closer, but he didn’t notice the big rock sticking up. He hits the rock and it throws the front wheel hard to the left and caused him to run over the small, strange plant. He slammed on the brakes, got out of the truck and looked to see if he hit that curious, little plant. He saw that he ran over the plant and broke off a lot of the thumb-sized, crystal-like leaves.

Doug reached down and carefully swept up the pieces from the dirt and put them in a plastic baggie he retrieved from his front seat. He saw a fist-sized, black rock under the pieces of the plant. He got down on his hands and knees to get a closer look at the strange crystal-like leaves. There were pieces on the ground and several orange, oval-shaped bean-looking pieces on the ground. These weird bean-like things were shaped like miniature footballs. They had little bumps on them, just like the warts on a toad. He put all the pieces he could find in the plastic baggie. Before he got in the truck, he noticed something else. There was another piece of crystal and one more bean stuck in the tire tread. He pried them out and put them in the plastic baggie with the rest of the pieces.

These crystals were strange. He had never seen anything like them. Another thing, what about those strange, bumpy orange beans? He put the bag of pieces in the glove box and pulled the truck ahead. He needed to take a good look to see if there were any more pieces he hadn’t seen before. He drove forward, stopped and got out of his truck. He went back to where the little bush had been. There were more fine pieces still on the odd-looking rock. That is when he noticed that small black rock was like none of the others lying nearby.

This rock was black and smooth with small holes all over it. More importantly, the rock had a crack in it no wider than a pencil. Now he was completely dumbstruck. There was a purple and yellow, crystal-shaped plant growing out of the crack.

What Doug did not know was that this rock was an asteroid. There was a collision of planets long ago. Even today, there are still other planet pieces flying through the vastness of space. That small piece of asteroid had been flying through space for centuries before landing there on the desert over 165 years ago. The little plant he ran over was an alien organism that existed in certain areas on a planet far away. Doug was lucky to find the asteroid out here because it was the only one that had ever hit the earth.

Doug figured he had spent enough time with this. He needed to get to that road he was building. Hopefully, he had only a few more miles to go. This was a new site and he had never been there before. If this turned out to be as lucrative as he thought it might, he could afford to finally build the house he always wanted. He was excited because this project would last for at least two years.

When he got home late that night, he grabbed the baggie out of his truck and brought it in the house. He put the bag down on top of the island in the center of the kitchen and turned on the light. He noticed that the crystals had all turned black! What happened to the purple and yellow colors? The small beans were still orange. At least that was good. Slowly, from the back room came his dog, Boomer, a 14-year old chocolate lab. Boomer heard Doug in the kitchen and knew it was time for dinner.

Boomer was on the other side of the kitchen island where Doug had put the baggie. He patiently waited for his evening treat. Every evening, Doug would open the refrigerator and take out a jar of pumpkin paste he had made just for Boomer. The dog had arthritis real bad and Boomer didn’t like to take pills. The vet had told Doug to grind up his pill and put it in a pumpkin paste and feed it to him. Doug didn’t mind having to grind them up. He simply put it in a teaspoon of pumpkin paste and fed it to him. The dog really liked the paste. He would eat it right off the spoon.

Doug poured out the little plastic bag on the counter top. One of the orange beans rolled off the counter and onto the floor. Doug wasn’t quick enough to get to it before Boomer did. He froze as he watched Boomer eat it. He thought, maybe Boomer would just spit it out but he didn’t. Doug thought maybe it wouldn’t hurt him anyway. So he let it go.

He sorted through all the now black crystals and the orange football-shaped beans and counted nine of them. He looked at Boomer and said, Well, let’s get your Glucosamine ready and then I’ll feed you. He fixed Boomer up with his pill. Then he poured the special mix, dry dog food into his dish. As Doug stood watching Boomer eat, he thought back to a time when Boomer was a little puppy. As a pup, he ran across the floor and would make a ka-thunk, a thunk sound. Doug decided he would call him Boomer because the dog had big feet.

As he headed to bed he noticed Boomer on the floor in the kitchen. He didn’t seem to be breathing and was perfectly still. Doug panicked and ran over to Boomer and felt for a heartbeat, but there was none. He called out his name and rubbed him vigorously. He was trying to get some kind of response but Boomer didn’t move. Doug sadly sat down next to the dog. Boomer has died, he thought. He got up and went out to the garage and found an old blanket that Boomer used to sleep on. It was old and worn with holes in it. He brought it into the house and placed Boomer gently on it. He said to Boomer, Rest in peace, old friend. Then he carefully picked up Boomer and placed him on the blanket. After wrapping him up in it, he laid him on the floor in the garage. He thought he would dig a hole for him in the back yard the next morning. Several hours later Doug went to bed.

The next morning, he looked at the kitchen floor thinking he would see Boomer, but he wasn’t there. It was then he remembered putting Boomer in the garage last night. He got dressed and went out to the garage to pick him up and put him on the patio couch before he started digging the hole. As he opened the door, there was a strange noise in the darkness. When he turned on the light, he almost fainted. Standing next to the garage door was another brown dog. One he didn’t immediately recognize. Where did this dog come from? How did he get in the garage? Did he forget to close the outside door last night? He looked over and saw that the door was closed. He thought, maybe this dog closed it accidentally during the night.

He felt faint when he walked toward the dog because he saw a familiar collar that belonged to Boomer! Now he panicked again. He quickly went back to the blanket where he had laid Boomer the night before. Problem was that Boomer ain’t there! Doug felt woozy and suddenly had to sit down. He stared at the younger dog. Then a strange thought struck his mind. Was that other dog, Boomer, only younger? Now he was freaking out. His head was spinning! This was just not possible, he said to himself. That just couldn’t be! He looked at the other dog and spoke softly, Boomer, come here. The younger dog got up off the floor and walked over to him without hesitation. Then the dog licked his face. It had to be a dream he was having. He needed to wake up. This dog looked like he was three years old and old Boomer was 14 years old!

He rushed into the bathroom and splashed water on his face. When he turned around, the dog was beside him and wagging his tail. Doug walked into the kitchen and poured some dry dog food into his bowl. The dog walked over and simply started to eat.

Doug suddenly realized this was Wednesday. He had to get ready for work. He didn’t have time to do anything about this mess now. He knew he couldn’t take this dog with him. The heavy equipment he drove was dangerous and no place for a dog. Boomer usually stayed in the backyard all day. He was there when Doug came home at night. So he opened the back door to let the new dog outside. He walked out the door and toward the dog house he built. This dog just walked over, went inside and lay down just like Boomer did. He didn’t have time to try to understand this now. He would figure something out when he came home tonight. Doug went back inside and made a quick breakfast as usual. Then made his lunch and went to work. Something weird happened. It was all making his head hurt trying to figure out what it was. He needed to talk to someone to see if they could make sense of it, but who?

He thought about the strange turn of events all the way to work. How was this possible? Then he realized that, if all of it was true, he would be famous if those beans could make an old person young again. He could be the most powerful person in the world. At the same time, he realized that he never would have any peace again. Thousands would be calling him, or coming to his house 24-hours a day. He wouldn’t be able to hide anywhere! Now what do I do?

With his mind spinning, he remembered his girlfriend, Emily. He could talk to her but then suspicion set in. Could he trust her to keep his secret? Would she freak out like he did? Or would she come to the same conclusion he finally came to? This was an important decision he had to make. He had all day to think about it. He needed to calm down and concentrate on his work. Pushing rocks around and scraping dirt didn’t make it any easier to decide what he was going to do. Finally, he decided that if he didn’t tell her, someone else would. Then he would be even more desperate. When he got home, he fed Boomer and went to the phone to call her. He told her he had something important to discuss with her and, I am on the way over right now! When she hung up the phone, she thought he maybe he might propose.

She was all jittery when he walked through the door and could hardly contain her excitement. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a huge hug. Doug didn’t notice because his mind was elsewhere. He stepped back and started to explain. His words came out all jumbled and he sounded confused. She watched as he fumbled along saying things like purple desert crystals, little orange pills and Boomer.

He stopped babbling and had a wild look in his eyes. Then he said, Let me start over, I have too much on my mind. I am so excited, I can’t talk straight. She said, Are you trying to find the words to ask me to move in with you? Then he realized how stupid he sounded. He steadied himself and explained, I have made a discovery out in the desert and it is valuable.

She said, I heard you say purple crystal and something about Boomer but it doesn’t make any sense. Doug hesitated and said, Emily, what I have to tell you could change the world forever but we have to keep it to ourselves. She blinked and stood there, more confused than before.

She said, I don’t understand Doug. What are you trying to say? Doug replied, I think maybe I stumbled on a strange kind of plant in the desert. Only this one could be like the fountain of youth. Now she stood with her mouth open and asked, Do you think I am a blonde bimbo? Doug knew then he found a new way to make her mad. He took her hand and said, Let’s sit down and I will try to explain it better. Then he explained the whole event, including the surprise in the garage that morning.

He told her he had only nine more of those special little beans left and wondered what he should do with them. We can’t tell anyone, he said He still had that same wild look in his eyes. She sat for a few minutes and said, Are you positive that this dog you found in the garage is Boomer?

Yes the dog had Boomer’s collar on, it has to be him! She said, I remember you had a chip implanted in him so if he ever got picked up they could contact you.

He said, Yeah, I did, that’s right! She said, I have a scanner that I use in the lab and it reads chip implants. Let’s see if it will work on Boomer’s chip.

Doug asked, Why do we need to do that? She thought maybe someone had taken his old dog and replaced him with another one. Doug didn’t want to tell her he thought that idea was crazy. It was bad enough that this whole thing was crazy.

When they got to the house, Doug let Boomer inside. Boomer went right over to Emily and almost jumped up on her. He was so excited to see her. Emily said, Well, this dog is friendly, just like Boomer. Doug replied, I noticed this dog doesn’t seem to have arthritis. They took the collar off and Emily ran the scanner over the dog’s neck. The scanner beeped. Emily looked at the screen. The address and the dog’s name appeared along with a phone number. She looked at the dog and then Doug. Now she was pale. My God, the scanner says he has Boomer’s chip! She looked at the dog and said, And this collar says his name is Boomer." Now she had a wild look in her eyes. Doug told her he thought it was true, now she just proved it. Then he reached up in the cupboard and brought down a small jar with a lid. She noticed the small orange bumpy beans inside.

He handed her the jar and she looked inside. Are those the beans you told me about? she asked. He replied, There are only nine beans left. He looked down at the dog and said, There was ten, but I dropped one on the floor. She asked, And the one you dropped on the floor was the one the dog ate? Doug nodded his head. Boomer got to it before I could get it. She thought for a minute and sat down at the table. She was thinking about something. Doug sat down and had a strange look on his face.

He took her hand and said, I have a real strange idea. Listen to me before you say anything. She looked puzzled and said, I’m listening. Doug picked up the bottle and turned it around a couple of times. He put it on the table and said, I know it’s crazy, but we need to get a safe deposit box. Emily spoke up, That’s not a bad idea. He sat for a minute and said, Be quiet and let me tell you the rest first.

He sat back in his chair and folded his arms and said, I want to save two of these beans. Before she could react, he put up his hand. If I figured it right, these beans take off about three quarters of your age. He looked at Boomer and back to Emily. I anticipate this dog is probably three years old. She looked at the dog and nodded her head. I agree with you on that.

He continued, If it’s true, we save two of these and when we turn 75, we take them. She stared at him for a few seconds and shook her head. Would we go back to being 25 all over again? she asked. He answered, I don’t know, but I think I want to try it. She looked at the bottle and then at him. She picked it up and said, If we do manage to live until we are 75, wouldn’t it be hard to explain why we are suddenly young again?

He told her quietly, We have the next 40 or so years to figure it out. She smiled, So what do we do with the remaining seven magic little beans? I thought about that while I was working today. I don’t know how long that plant was out there. Looking at the jar, he said, And what is worse, I don’t know how to grow another plant. She picked up the jar and said, We could experiment with one couldn’t we? He said, For one thing, we don’t know how long it takes to make a plant that size. He leaned back in his chair and said, What if it takes a hundred or thousand years to grow one plant? She looked at the jar and said. That is almost as bad as deciding what to do with the rest of the magnificent seven beans.

She thought for a minute and turned to Doug. I think we need to find someone who has a legal background and has strong character.

Doug replied, I know nothing about how to make a good deal, and I am sure you do not have any experience either. She shook her head. That leaves us with one option. He scratched his head and said, That idea you have fits right in with what I was just thinking. If we become young again, we a sound financial foundation to rely on and we would draw attention if we had a pension that lasted for 115 years. She reminded him, So Social Security won’t work for us? He answered, I don’t know anyone who fits that bill, and do you?

She said, The first thing we need to do tomorrow is to go to the bank and get a safety deposit box. We need to secure our future first, agreed? He nodded his head in agreement.

Emily said, I had an old girlfriend a few years back, and she knew an unusual lawyer who was known for coloring outside of the lines. He wasn’t a crook, but he was very clever. Doug asked, Do you remember his name? Emily said, My girlfriend called him Mousetrap. Give me a day or two to get in touch with her and find out his real name. Doug said, I hope he isn’t in jail or dead.

The next day, Doug applied for a safe deposit box. That evening, he went over to see Emily. When she opened the door, he saw a strange lady standing inside. She said, Come in Doug, I want you to meet Melissa. He walked over to Melissa and said, Hello, my name is Doug Marble. Then he sat down and listened to her explain the relationship she had with someone she called Mousetrap.

Apparently she had gotten into a fix with a loan shark, and he was taking all of her money. She couldn’t cover the payments completely and the interest kept going up. He showed her a way to pay off her debt. She would have to let her 13 year-old daughter become his personal sex slave. She said she freaked out and almost killed him. He filed a complaint against her charging her with first degree assault and attempted manslaughter.

She found out about Mousetrap while she was in lockup. An old drug addict said his nephew used him to get him off with probation in a vehicular homicide charge. The nephew was trying to get his young daughter back from a kidnapper and ran him off the road. The kid was in the trunk and was okay, but the driver was killed. Mousetrap got the kid off using self defense. He overturned his car on the ramp, forcing the kidnapper into the bridge abutment. The police report stated reckless endangerment. The district attorney thought the kid was in