Horse Thief at the Yard Sale

I told Wendy's mom, Karen, that I'd come help at her yard sale today, so I missed the writers' group... again.

Wendy assurred me that nothing draws in crowds like a rabbit doing the hula.

But I'm pretty sure she was pulling my leg.

They had all kinds of stuff for sale. Books...


Old tools (I think they belonged to Wendy's Grandpa)...


All kinds of stuff. (Upon reading the back, I discovered that Buns of Steel, is in fact NOT a work out video to make you a stronger bunny. I'm glad I read the description before I bought it!)

Things were going pretty much exactly as you'd think a weekend yard sale would go, and then...

I spotted her walking up the driveway.

I said "Hi", and she said "Hi" but kept walking, right past me, straight to the box of stuffed animals, which she jumped up on and threw herself into.

I wandered over, and said: "Um, hi. Can I help you? What are you doing in the stuffed animal box?"

She smiled at me and said: "I'm sick of not having a home, so I'm throwing my fate to the winds, and selling myself at a yard sale. How much do I cost?"

"Excuse me?"

"The stuffed animal box. What's the price for things in this box, please?"

"Oh, they're twenty five cents."

"Excellent! I shall find a home for CERTAIN at that price! OH! Look at that!" and she was off digging in the box.

"Do you live here?" she asked me, while casually tearing the dress off another doll.

"No, I live a long way away from here. I'm just helping out today."

"Oh, what's your home like? Do you live with humans?"

"Well, I live in a huge house, with lots of wild plants and stuff all around. It's pretty quiet except for the occasional owl or coyote. And I live with two humans, but they're very nice."

"That sounds absolutely LOVELY!" she said, with a strangely enthusiastic tone to her voice.

Suddenly, she turned like she heard something behind her, tossed the dress to me, turned around and said "Oh, what have we here? Hello little fella!" And she started digging into the corner.

"Here now, you don't want to stay here, do you? Up we go!" I heard her muffled voice say to someone under a bunch of stuffed animals. And suddenly she appeared on the back of a white horse with black spots!

She rode over to me, and asked "My dress please?"

I handed it to her and the horse jumped out of the box.

"It was wonderful to meet you," she said riding away.

"It was wonderful to meet you too," I said. Then I realized, she hadn't really been sold. Nothing had changed for her! So, chasing after her, I asked "Hey, what about 'tossing your fate to the winds' and finding a new home?"

"I have," she said. "See ya!" and away she rode down the driveway.

Weird. Just plain weird.

Thankfully, we got rained out before any more weirdness could occur. We sold a bunch of stuff, and mostly had a good time.

Even if, since I let the stranger (I never did catch her name) ride away with the horse without paying, I ended up owing Karen twenty-five cents! D'oh!