Mystery Man

 

 

 

Harry left the theater disgusted.  Never in his whole 11-years of life had he been more heated.  He stomped out the doors, grabbed his bike and rode off.

What a waste, he thought to himself.  All that time!  All that money…gone!  Mystery Man, what a stupid name for a movie.  Harry angrily pedaled his bike down the asphalt in the July heat, thinking about this grand mistake he just made. 

Harry recalled six months prior when the announcement was made.  His family's Sunday dinner, ham and mashed potatoes as usual, included one bit of conversation by Harry's father mentioning he had seen an advertisement for a new movie coming out this summer.  It was called Mystery Man and was predicted to be one of the year's best.  That title had produced a spike in Harry's interest.  Mystery Man sounded exactly like the type of movie Harry loved.  He idolized Lon Chaney and had already seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera.  This upcoming movie, at least according to the title, should achieve parity with these other amazing films.

Sweat started to accumulate under his shirt but he didn't care.  In his mind, the quicker he eliminated any trace of the distaste and loathing of this wretched film from his body the better.  He visualized it oozing out of his pores as he rode the seven blocks home.

Harry veered right and stopped at a stop sign before crossing a busy intersection.  He looked down at the corner and remembered having a lemonade sale every weekend for a month at that very spot.  That business venture had earned him enough money to view the so-called smash hit of the summer.  Boy, I wish I could get the money back, he thought.

Glancing back toward the theater, Harry sent out an 11-year old curse to the person responsible for giving one of the worst movies ever that most deceptive title.  What intelligent individual would make a movie about dancing (Ugh!) and singing (Eww!) and, god forbid, kissing (Gross!) and then give it the awesome name of Mystery Man?  It should have been called Barf Man for all Harry was concerned.  At least then he would have known what he was in for.

Harry arrived home a few short minutes later. He was hot but not quite as livid.  Harry had had time to think and that, along with the 102 degree heat, had melted almost all of the girders in Harry's house of anger.  He strode inside a wiser man.  Anger had been replaced by wisdom.  Never again would he work so hard just to throw away his time and money.  He would be smart and invest his money wisely.  His next venture was already in sight.  He calculated how many lemonade-stand weekends it would take.  Without a doubt he knew that by the end of the summer he would be the proud owner of a brand new pogo stick!

 

Word Count: 493

 

 

These weekly short stories have been a lot of fun.  I've had people ask how they can participate, so for those interested, the easiest way is to click the link for one of the blog hostesses below (I follow Carrie) to get the directions and the inLinkz link to submit your story.



A reminder and rundown of the blog hop rules:

1) Use the photo and the 5 words provided in your story

2) Keep your word count 500 words or less.

3) You have until Tuesday to link up your post.

4) Link up with your blog hostess (Nicole, Carrie, Tena or Leanne) when you’re done via the inLinkz linky below.

5) Have fun, don’t stress, let those creative juices flow.

The Words -

1. Ham
2. Spike
3. Parity
4. Girders
5. Sale