The Epiphanyİ

Free Online Short Love Story

Written by American Author Sky Taylor

Twelve weeks of back-breaking work, but the feed store was finally ready for the grand opening.

Calliope had been bombarded by the locals in the small town of Frisco with impatient complaints regarding the delay of the reopening.  It was the only feed store within one-hundred square miles of the county.

But no matter how much she sympathized with the ranchers and farmers having need to travel for miles on end to secure feed, she had been adamant upon the store remaining closed until everything was in perfect order.

Although her late grandfather had left her this treasure, he had also left her a bee's nest.  By sheer luck the internal revenue hadn't shut him down, for whatever vast knowledge he'd had between his ears for feed and grain, he had lacked when it came to book work.

Calliope stood back to admire her efforts, deciding that the store looked absolutely stellar.  The once-worn wooden floors had been polished, looking like liquid glass beneath the newly-installed wagon wheel lighting. Several new sections had been added to the store for dogs, cats, ferrets, guinea pigs, small birds and bunnies.  And she had completely remodeled the poultry section which she had named, 'The Cock of the Walk'  for the big birds and 'Feathers' for the smaller birds.

Utilizing her marketing savvy, she had craftily named all the sections of the store, believing that her customers would find her wares more appealing.  

The classy new setup was also destined to draw in a new customer base.  

Rather than being nothing more than a lone feed store, it was now more of a pet headquarters, something necessary and useful - for she assumed that many of the farmers and ranchers in the area had pets in need of pampering.

What dog in its right mind could resist the buckboard wagon filled with dog biscuits supporting every color of the rainbow?  What pony could resist the ancient water trough filled with new horseshoes?  Or what baby lamb could ignore the wine casks overflowing with fancy feeding bottles? And there wasn't a more vast selection of cowbells to be found anywhere else on the planet.

Dancing about the store, her eyes dusted over the new sections: Tame Your Mane, Fido's Follies, Pretties for Kitties, The Bunny Hop, The Brown Cow, Sheep Thrills, Piglet's Pallor and a section called Pet Stash for miscellaneous pet needs such as the little reptilian creatures.  

Calliope was very pleased with her construction of an igloo in the Fido's Follies' section.  Grandfather had a stash of white blocks that were scattered to and fro in the feed store, Calliope supposing they were anchors for displays that he had never managed getting around to setting up.  His customer base had been standard and he'd never had a desire to draw in more customers.  "Too much fuss," he had complained on more than one occasion whenever Calliope had suggested such over the years.

Nonetheless, the big blocks had been perfect in creating a dog house that resembled an igloo.  She had stuffed a large red dog wearing earmuffs into the opening which correlated well with the white blocks.  If that didn't get dog owners in the mood to shop, nothing would.

Only ten minutes until opening!  Best run to the powder room before the doors opened, she decided - knowing that it promised to be a very busy day.  

As she lived in the rear of the feed store, grabbing a bite to eat wouldn't present a problem she decided as she continued to lay out her day.

At least the remodeling of the living quarters hadn't proven nearly as challenging as the feed store because over the years she had revamped a few sections at a time while visiting her beloved grandfather.

Oh if he were alive he would be so proud of her accomplishments, Calliope decided with a wide smile.

In the powder room, when she glanced into the long oval mirror she could almost see dollar signs floating in her green eyes.  Yes sir - a very busy day in store.  And she was certain that the customers would see why she had been so stern in shutting the doors until her masterpiece had been completed.  A regular Rockwell at that!

A few minutes later, she opened the new French doors leading into the feed store, her face still lit with a wide smile but it instantly died as the crowd she had expected consisted of one cranky-looking specimen, a cowboy of sorts. If she had not been so shocked over her disappointment, she might have given him a more thorough inspection.

Oh well - perhaps the crowd of eager customers would arrive in a bit.  She supposed that eight a.m. was rather early for most folks.  In her prior marketing job for Winston & Smitty she hadn't needed to pop into the office until nine.  Yes, she might have need in rethinking her hours of operation.

"Welcome to The Old Country Feed Store," she told the stranger, stepping aside to allow him entrance.

Heath grumbled beneath his breath and it was with great effort that he didn't reach out and strangle the hick-girl who obviously didn't know a hoot about feed.  For three months now she had cost him valuable time and money.  A two-hundred mile round trip to secure feed hadn't put him in the best of moods.  Thank the holy stars in heaven that she was finally open for business!

His assumption regarding her ineptness was confirmed as she hopped aside and he entered the feed store that had been there since God had created Adam.

Good grief.  The area looked pathetic - more like a pet brothel than a feed store!  

As his eyes continued to dart over the store, his glance was met with ruffles, lace, feathers - and a red dog wearing earmuffs which had been crammed into a stack of salt lick.  No wonder he was red.

This hick-girl had poisoned the once-nostalgic feed store leaving it more repulsive than a dirty diaper. Ely Jackson was suddenly sorely missed.

"Stunning, isn't it?" Calliope beamed, delivering a wide smile to the stranger.  "Oh!  And being the first customer at my grand opening, you win a prize," she went on to inform, almost forgetting about her savvy ad campaign, a campaign which she had originally felt would have piled in the customers on grand opening day.

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