He Collects Them is a new short story by one of the authors in the Mooresville Writers’ Group. The group meets once a month online to practice the joy of writing through the use of prompts like the phrase “he collects them.” To join the group, contact Megan Mosher at the Mooresville Public Library. If you would like to contribute a short story of 350 to 500 words, contact Ellen Stafford, Managing Editor.

 

He Collects Them

George was never one to seek out a challenge, so when Katie decided to collect agates that she’d dig up out of the rocky ground, George decided to collect bottle caps. It didn’t matter which kind: screw-offs or regular, plastic or aluminum, beer or soda; he just wanted all the ones he could get. And they didn’t have to be different. He must have had a hundred Sprite before he had a single Doctor Pepper.

 

“George’s whole room swelled with the collection.”

 

While Katie’s shelves slowly filled, her tossing away the less beautiful rocks as her standards grew, George’s whole room swelled with the collection. He began by putting them in the old discarded cans of nuts his father would buy from the bulk store, but he encountered a problem when his collecting outpaced his father’s nut eating. As the cans overfilled, he lay the caps, first stacked, now strewn, all across his floor.

 

“… he didn’t like to work hard, but he did like to win.”

 

George’s mother began to weary of his collecting.

His parents probably would have had a panic attack if they’d known how much time he spent at the dump — he didn’t like to work hard, but he did like to win. But it wasn’t until the stench of the caps — which of course George had never thought to wash — permeated from his room that his parents decided to sit him down for the talk.

It was a hard talk to give the boy, for they had lauded Katie on her agates, and as far as George could tell, they really were just stupid rocks. But something had to be done. Cans of empty raid were beginning to collect around the house as if his mother had started a collection of her own.

“George,” his father started, “We just want you to know … and you can’t tell your sister ok? You won. There’s no more need to collect bottle caps or really anything, ok? You’ve won the contest, and it’s time to make lots of room in your room by taking the caps to a nice, safe place. You’ve earned a rest; your mother and I can do it while you’re at school.”

 

“You’ve won the contest, and it’s time to make lots of room in your room by taking the caps to a nice, safe place. You’ve earned a rest; your mother and I can do it while you’re at school.”

 

His father felt even more strongly.

 

Ever doubtful, his mother shook her head at his father’s typical bold tactic.

“I win!” George screamed, jumping from the couch.

His father put his finger to his lips. “Don’t tell. You must have grace as a winner. Understand?”

“Yes, sir!” the boy said, stiffening his back, giving a salute, and then running out to play in the yard.

 

 

 

Photos courtesy of Brent Holmes

 

 

Brent Holmes is a Data Scientist at Lowe’s by day and a fiction author by night. Brent enjoys writing in a wide variety of genres, covering many topics. Brent has a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Kansas. You can follow him @author_holmes.