Miracles; Lester's Story (based on a true story)

Miracles

  Lester’s Story

  Carey Mozena

  Copyright 2011 Carey Mozena

  A chilly breeze wafted through the early morning sky as the sun began to rise. Lester shivered as he began setting up the poles to his tarp for the flea market. He had been looking forward to opening day, and had loaded his van with all sorts of goodies to sell. Since the ground was blacktopped, Lester brought concrete blocks with him to tie the tarp to so that it wouldn’t dance around in the breeze. He noticed that other people had brought different kinds of weights for their tarps; one person was using milk jugs filled with water, another was tying the tarp to the tables they had brought. The woman next to him was hanging baby clothes onto the frame of the tarp to hold it down. Lester watched them for a moment and got back to setting his own tarp up.

  The first rays of the sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky, revealing hundreds of people just like Lester setting up tarps and tables to show off and sell their goods. Looking around, Lester noticed that there weren’t as many people as was usual for opening day. He figured that the thunderstorms forecasted for that evening were to blame. He shrugged it off. The flea market never lasted past five o’clock anyway, and he could always pack up early. He yawned as he began unpacking the first box.

  Not long after he began, he got his first customer. Lester smiled. It was always good luck to make your first sale before you were done setting up. He paused as he helped the young man around his stand. Lester explained what kinds of tools he had, and gave reasons why the young man might need one. The young man listened half-heartedly, and left the stand without making a purchase. Lester sighed and got back to work.

  When he was nearly done setting up, his daughter, Caitlyn, who had been napping in the van, came out rubbing her eyes. She half sat, half leaned on the back bumper and watched Lester finish unpacking. When he was done, he grabbed a blanket out of the van and wrapped her in it. He could tell she was still sleepy, so he picked her up and set her inside the now empty van. He sat next to her and waited for another customer.

  By noon, the winds began to pick up a little, making the concrete blocks sway. Lester wasn’t too concerned; he had the tarp set up and hold well in stronger winds that this. Besides, he had made several sales and had four different people now looking at his tools, one of which was digging through his wallet. Lester walked up to him to complete another sale as a large, dark cloud passed by overhead and the winds started to howl. The women who set up next to him were starting to take their tarp off of the frame. As he looked around him, several other vendors were taking their tarps down. He watched the sky for a few minutes before deciding to wait it out. The storms weren’t supposed to come this far north for a few more hours, at least. Five minutes later, the winds died down and the large cloud passed, allowing the sun to bathe the flea market in its hot rays once more. Lester chuckled to himself as he watched everyone else bake in the sun while he still enjoyed the shade from his tarp.

  Less than an hour later, Lester noticed several people begin to pack up, including the women beside him. He thought it was rather unusual for everyone to pack up so early, but understood their rush when he overheard someone talking about the storms moving faster than predicted, and that the first should be their within minutes. Panic flashed across Lester’s face as he grabbed the nearest box and began throwing stuff into it. Just as he got the first box done, the winds returned with a fury. He shouted for Caitlyn to get into the van and stay there as the rain began. Usually, rain begins as a sprinkle, then slowly gets heavier. Not this time. The first drop turned into a downpour in less than a minute. Lester was soaked as he scrambled to pack up his tools. He wasn’t even paying any attention to his tarp until another man ran over to him and cried out that the wind was trying to take the tarp.

 

  Lester dropped the box he was filling as the tarp jumped nearly two feet in the air and slammed down hard. He and the other man grabbed the frame of the tarp to hold it down. Lester tried in vain to undo the ties that held the tarp to the frame and to the concrete blocks. It was all he could do to hold onto the tarp while the storm grew stronger every minute. The tarp jumped and slammed back down violently as he and the other man held tight, but the wind was too strong. In one mighty wave, the wind grabbed the tarp, along with the concrete blocks and the two men, and carried it out into the isle between the rows of vendors. Lester lost his grip and fell as the wind pulled the tarp over him, dragging the concrete blocks. Pain exploded in his head as his world went dark.