Best Seller

“Best Seller”
by
W. P. Gerace
Ralph Heinz walked around his empty apartment, wishing he had made better decisions with his life. He was nearly forty years old, and here he was, living in this dilapidated apartment in the rough section of Philadelphia. Not able to earn enough as a part-time night clerk at Harper’s Grocery to barely eat and pay rent. Dreams he had, so many of them were like faint whispers in the wind. Tears streamed down his face, and a gusty wind barreled down the dark, empty street below. In just a few hours, he would have to go out in that bitter cold and catch four buses in this dreadful weather just to earn a somewhat livable wage.

A bottle of his anxiety pills lay on the brown table before him. A few feet away was some whiskey and gin. Mixing the two was a bad idea, but he needed to sleep. He hadn’t slept in days. Mr. Klein, the landlord, demanded his rent money, and he was still waiting for money from his brother Parker, the golden child of the family but also the one with the purse strings. Ralph’s stomach churned. He had not eaten in days trying to save what little he had to give his landlord. He could see Klein’s ruddy cheeks, his blazing dark eyes glaring at him as if he were some maggot or low life. A steep, sharp pain developed in his chest. His hands trembled as he gazed at the clock on the wall. The dull red letters read 5:45 PM. He was sure Klein bellowed in that thunderous roar that he would be back promptly at 6:00 PM.

“If only I could change my life so I was not in this dreadful position. God, if you could give me the strength to get through this. I am not the best man on earth, but please do not let me be homeless. It is bad enough that I can not eat. Please help me, Lord. “ Crying, falling to his knees, fearing for the worst, Ralph knew it would be moments before he would be tossed out.

A gentle hand caressed his back. The cheerful smell of strawberries and peaches filled the air. A melodic hymn is played as if it were being played by harps. What was going on, Ralph wondered as his apartment glowed in a spectacular silver light. All his windows streamed in a gorgeous golden glow as if he were suddenly in another realm. A small woman with resplendent blonde hair and bluish-green eyes appeared before him, holding a golden staff.

“Hi, my child. My name is Grace. I am your Guardian Angel. I am here to grant you one wish. What is that your heart desires, my child? “ Her lips were a soft, almost pale pink.

“My gosh, this can’t be happening, can it. I thought Guardian Angels were make-believe. “

”No child, we are 100% real. Now, my love, what wish can I grant you. “

”Man, I want to return to when I was in High school and finished my novel The Truth. My family talked me out of sending it to a publisher. They never encouraged anything I did. “ Ralph clapped his hands together, excited to be given a second chance.

“Oh, my child, I can do better than that. Your wish and all your dreams are my command. “ Parting her pale lips, she spoke over the tip of her golden staff. The end contained a silver star.

The tip of the silver star sparkled everywhere, dazzling Ralph’s apartment with a silvery dust that covered everything. Ralph could feel his own body change. A tickling sensation ebbed underneath his skin. He could feel his presence pull away from where he was. The feeling was like that of being in outer space with no gravity. Slowly, he felt himself going through the stream of sparkles around him. The next thing he knew he was sitting in a huge library at a large wooden with books he wrote and his name on them.

“Mr. Heinz I love your book. Where do your get ideas and characters from? “ A medium sized woman with jet black hair asked.

“Oh, they come to me in the weirdest of places. But what I do is I carry a red journal with me all the time so when they talk to me, I can write down their conversation. I am also always people-watching. I study people. It is where I get a lot of my ideas and characters from. “ Ralph did not even know where that came from.

“Sounds marvelous. “ The woman clapped her hands and sat back down amongst the audience.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for attending this event. You all will receive autographed copies of The Truth at the door. Thanks again for coming. “ There was a thin man with coke bottle eyeglasses and a wispy mustache talking.

“You did terrific, kid. I am so proud of you. “ His father stood next to him, his eyes glowing with excitement. Ralph had to do a double take. Was this his father, who never knew any kind words in his vocabulary?

“Your dad is right, kid. This was a book hit. Here is your first advance check. “ Smiling, the man with the mustache handed Ralph a paper check.

Ralph could not believe what he saw written for the amount. Four million dollars. This can’t be. It has to be a mistake. Looking around, he pinched his skin to see if he was awake.

“Child, this is all you. You always had the talent. You just needed a little magic. Enjoy love. “ The magical lady appeared in her white dress and kissed him on the cheek.

Life will be better now, and there would be no more money troubles. Smiling, Ralph could not believe a simple wish could come true like this. Miracles still do happen.