PORCH PONDERINGS

"I have that tool that Dave needs."

So my doorbell rings. I answer it and the guy says "I have a tool that Dave needs." He is holding a tool. Luckily, there is someone named Dave in my basement with my husband working on the heating ducts. So I let the guy in. He looks vaguely familiar.

Only in small town Montana would I, a reasonably older woman, open a door willingly to a younger man wielding an evil looking wrench just with the secret words "I have a tool that Dave needs."

Yes indeed. Dave did know Jeremy, the local plumber. Yes indeed. My husband had dealt with Jeremy in the past. The three men spoke for a time in the basement about manly things. Plumbing and heating and instant hot water heaters and furnaces. You know the types of subjects that come up in houses that are being remodeled in small towns in Montana.

But later, as I write this, I thought. What a great idea for a story! A guy knocks on the door. He has a cryptic message. You let him in. What happens next is totally up to your evil, or benign, imagination. I'm sure this plot has taken many a twist and turn in many a book or short story.

I'll for now just file it away and see when it pops up. You never know when real life deals you a wild card. Then you will have that full house or flush and be able to finally finish that story.