The Ugly Magic Pants

By Duane O. Ricks

Ben had not had a lot of money growing up and had always tried to get by on what he had, so when he was blessed with the magic pants, life suddenly became easier for him. He just had to adhere to the rules.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 14, 2024
• ISBN: 9798891570887

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The Ugly Magic Pants

Duane O. Ricks

Copyright © 2024 Duane O. Ricks

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2024

ISBN 979-8-89157-076-4 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-89157-088-7 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

To my wife, Sandra L. Ricks, who has supported me in this effort and to my friend Ken Lindsay, a friend who encouraged me to write.

Acknowledgments

The Ugly Magic Pants

About the Author

To my wife, Sandra L. Ricks, who has supported me in this effort and to my friend Ken Lindsay, a friend who encouraged me to write.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Chris Black who made the pants, to D. J. Sims who was brave enough to wear the pants, and Sariah Sims—who inspired the character of Mary.

The Ugly Magic Pants

Ben had been thinking, Wouldn't life be so much easier if we didn't have to survive from paycheck to paycheck? And then it happened!

He remembered the day the pants came to him. It was a Wednesday; he was getting home from his job at the university; he worked all night cleaning there. As he was walking to the door, his little brother, Bobby, was walking out to go to school. Bobby was in junior high school, and Ben had been given the responsibility of being his guardian. Ben and Bobby's mom had died a year earlier. And their father, Bart, was in no position to take care of his youngest son. Ben had graduated from high school and moved out on his own two years earlier. Then, when his mom died, Ben took Bobby and all his things and moved him to Logan, Utah, with him. He knew Bobby would be better off with him than their dad who was now a full-fledge alcoholic after the death of his wife. Ben wasn't making that much income, but at least he had a steady job and was more responsible than their dad.

Bobby, don't leave any of your free lunch today. We do not have anything left in the apartment, and I don't get paid until Friday. We may not have anything to eat until then. Maybe I can look around the couch and find some spare change and find enough to buy two ramen noodles and a couple of apples, but have a great day. Like I said, eat all your free lunch, he ordered, trying not to sound too bossy. Bye, Bobby, I'll see you when you get home.

Okay, Bobby said, sounding a little sad.

Try to have a nice day, he encouraged. I will go and look for another job today so we can have more money for food, Ben said excitedly.

He smiled at Bobby and watched as he started down the street toward the school. Ben remembered a sign he had noticed in the window of a car wash just down the road. It said Help Wanted. Ben thought to himself, I could work all night at the university and sleep for a little while, then go clean cars in the afternoon and sleep a little while, then go back to the university. It won't leave any time for a social life, but who needs that?

Ben had not done well in school and had just gotten good enough grades to graduate, so his job possibilities were limited. His mom had been an art and English teacher at the high school. She had tried to encourage both of her boys to strive to do good in school. Learning was hard for him, and it seemed like the harder he tried, the more he struggled. Then he just gave up and did the very least he had to. He was thinking about all of this as he ate an old crusty roll, which was the last of the food in the apartment.

Ben was not afraid of hard work, and he had been able to land the janitorial job at the local university, which paid most of the bills, but now that he was feeding himself and his little brother, money was getting tight between paychecks, especially now that the price of everything had doubled.

He looked at the old pants he was wearing, both knees were worn out, and he noticed that the seam in the back was beginning to come undone. He thought he heard something rip today as he bent over to empty a garbage can.

Ben decided that before he went to a job interview, he should buy new pants. He looked in his wallet and realized he only had two dollars left from his last paycheck. He wondered if he could buy new pants with that amount. He thought, Maybe I can get a pair at the thrift store for that much.

Ben said to himself, I will sleep for two hours and then go to the thrift store, get the pants, stop at the car wash on the way home, and check on that job.

He woke up at 2:30 p.m. and felt a gnawing hunger in his stomach. He was tempted to spend his two dollars at McDonald's, but something convinced him that the pants were more important. He got cleaned up and walked to the thrift store. He remembered his car gas tank was below empty, and he did not want to run out of gas some place. Ben walked past the car wash place and noticed the Help Wanted sign was still in the window. He was thinking, I will have to check that out on my way home. He had a feeling things were going to get better in his life.

As he walked into the thrift store, he was greeted by a pretty, young clerk. She had long black hair and light-blue eyes that were very warm and helpful. She looked like she could be a gypsy.

Welcome to the store, sir. How can I help you? He heard her ask with a broad smile on her face.

Ya, I need a pair of jeans, Ben replied.

All the men's pants are on display over there, she said, pointing to a corner on the left side of the store.

Thank you, Ben said and went to where the pants were hanging on a rack. They were all arranged in groups according to sizes. Ben found a gray one he liked and a blue one that looked like they would be good for work. They were also his size. He grabbed them plus a nice pair of black dress pants just to check out and moved to the dressing room.

On his way there, a pair of striped green, brown, red, and yellow pants fell at his feet. He had to pick them up to get to the dressing rooms. When he tried hanging them back up, they continued to fall on the floor.

Ben finally decided to take the striped pants to the dressing room with him. When he arrived at the dressing room, Ben put the striped pants on for a second, then looked in the mirror. He said, Why would anyone want to buy these things? He took the pants off and set them on the chair. He picked up the blue pants and was going to try them on. As he lifted his right leg to put it in the blue pants, he noticed that he was once again dressed in the striped pants. Frustrated, he took the ugly pants off again and set them down. When he turned around to pick up the blue pants, he looked in the mirror and, to his surprise, saw the reflection of him wearing the striped pants. After taking the colorful pants off, he opened the dressing room door a crack, slipped the ugly pants outside, and shut the door. He breathed a sigh of relief. Then he sat down to try the blue pants on one more time. To his dismay, he was shocked to see the ugly striped pants back on him. These are really ugly pants, but they seem to be attached to me! he said out loud