Bachelor Buttons

Barbara flings herself down on her couch in frustration. The damn muffler fell off her car again. This is only the third time. She had to call for a tow. Another expensive tow to the muffler shop. Can’t those people even put on a muffler? She knows her car is old but they still make mufflers for it. She should know. This will be the third one she has had to have the shop order and install. They never mention a problem with installation. She is so careful with her car.

Her nervousness makes her shaky and Barbara feels cold. She grabs the large throw from the back of her couch and snuggles up in it. She really can’t afford so many car repairs but what does she do? She has to have her vehicle to get to work and do all the other things a person has to do. She is fighting frustration and hopes she can just drift off to sleep for awhile.

After awhile, Barbara gives up on sleep. It’s not going to happen. She has way too much on her mind. She sits up, still snuggled in her warm throw, and notices the beautiful decorative treasure box sitting on her coffee table. She smiles. Looking at that treasure box helps calm her. Barbara’s mother gave her that engraved treasure box many years ago. Her mother has been gone for years now, but Barbara still keeps her most special things in it. She reaches for it.

The first item she sees when she opens the box is the ever-present pack of Monopoly money. If seeing that Monopoly money didn’t give her such good memories, it would increase her frustration because, after all, real money is what she needs to replace her muffler. That packet of Monopoly money is one of her treasures that reminds her of her Daddy. As Barbara was growing up, she and her Daddy loved Monopoly. Then, when he got sick, she helped keep him occupied by playing Monopoly until he got too sick to play. She will never forget all those wonderful times with her dad.

Under the packet of Monopoly money is the seed packet she recently picked up at the farm supply store. Barbara goes to the farm store to get corn for the deer that frequent her backyard. While she was there, she walked by the seeds and that’s when she saw the bachelor button seeds. Her mom always used to plant them in the fall in a planting box. By spring, they were coming up and then were planted in the flower garden. On an impulse, Barbara bought a packet of bachelor buttons.

Barbara jumped up, thinking her planting box was in her sunroom. She took the packet of seeds with her. Barbara got involved filling her planting box with dirt, planting the seeds, and watering and fertilizing them. She forgot all about the offending muffler.

Suddenly, the phone rang and it was the muffler repair shop. They were going to replace the muffler for free as they determined the previous muffler had been installed incorrectly. All that frustration for nothing. However, Barbara had already calmed down. She was much happier just standing in her sunroom planting her bachelor buttons. She would deal with her car later. #blogpropellant #amwriting #amblogging #writing #dailyprompt

TBP’s Objects in a Box 4-5