Five words given to me by my dear friend, Gilda: flim-flam, appropriate, vegetated, fortuitous, capricious. As always, EXACTLY 1000 words, plus title. Remember, these are just for fun! Enjoy!

Guaranteed!

Back in the day – long before video games, cell phones, and even television - some kids actually spent their play time outside. Weather permitting, of course.

We had to find our own ways to make money for the things we wanted, like bicycles, going to the movies, etc. One way to do that was to sell Kool-Aid on the street in front of our homes. This was long before THESE days, when you practically need an armed guard to protect your children from strangers.

Such was the case for 11-year old Johnny, who sold Kool-Aid from a stand he set up using a card table, with a folding chair to sit on. By his side sat his faithful German shepherd, Ralphie. Along with a bowl of water, of course.

He made the appropriate sign: “Kool-Aid 10¢” in bright red and affixed it to the front of the card table.

Running between railroads, Smith Street wasn’t a busy street, but Johnny could always count on someone from the nearby iron works to stop by on the very hot days.

One in particular. He called him the Old Man, although he was probably no more than 40. He never failed, each day Johnny manned the stand, to stop for a drink and exchange a few words.

“You savin’ up for something special there?”

“Yep. A new bike. My parents will help, but I really want to earn the money myself!”

“Well, that’s admirable. What’s your name?”

“Johnny. And this is Ralphie.”

“Nice to meet you, Johnny. You too, Ralphie. My name is Mr. Baxter.”

One bright, especially warm day, Johnny brought out a fresh pitcher of Kool-Aid just as Mr. Baxter drove up.

“Hi, Johnny. How’s it going today? Are you getting rich yet?” he said with a laugh.

“Not yet,” Johnny replied. “But today I have a special offer for you!” and with that, he held up a 4-leaf clover. “I found TWO of these at my grandma’s house, and I’m gonna sell this one!”

“You sure it’s gonna bring me good luck?”

“Yep. Guaranteed.”

“Well my my. Aren’t YOU just a little flim-flam man!” he said with another laugh.

“What’s THAT mean?”

“Never mind. It’s just a way of saying you’re a clever salesman.

“Let me take a closer look at it.”

And with a flourish, Johnny handed him the largest 4-leaf clover the man had ever seen.

“How much you gonna charge me if I decide to buy it?”

“Since you’re a regular customer, just $1.50.”

“Hmmm. Well, since you guarantee it will bring me good luck, how can I say no?” And with that, he pulled out $2.00 from his wallet, dropped the money into Johnny’s outstretched hand, then carefully put the clover in a picture pocket behind his driver’s license to protect it.

“Well, this has been a fortuitous day indeed!”

“I don’t know what THAT means, either!”

“It’s just another way to say this must be my lucky day, Johnny! Keep the change.”

And he got back into his jalopy and drove off down the road to whatever destination he called home.

As the years marched on, Johnny became John, became a doctor, and eventually married. They remained in their hometown but moved into a much nicer home and eventually had two children, a boy and a girl. The boy looked like and took after his dad and his willingness to earn his own money. The little girl was a capricious little thing. She either vegetated in her room sullenly or played all day with her dolls.

Life was good.

Then one day, sirens wailing, Dr. John opened the doors to allow paramedics to wheel the gurney through the emergency room.

“What have we got?” he asked one paramedic while taking over guiding the gurney forward.

“Guy got stabbed during a robbery when he came out of a store downtown. The police are on it.”

With that, Dr. John steered the gurney into the operating room where the man was lifted onto the examination table.

He cut away the man’s shirt to examine the wound and found the heart and lungs had escaped damage by a few millimeters. It was now a matter of stopping the profuse bleeding.

The old man made it through surgery successfully and was wheeled into a room to recover.

Hours later, at the end of his shift, Dr. John poked his head into the old man’s room to check on him and found him propped up in his bed, resting against a pillow.

“Hey. You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“Where’s my stuff? he barely mumbled.

“What stuff is that?”

“My wallet.”

Dr. John found a bag in the space under the bed and pulled it out.

“I need to get something out of my wallet.”

Dr. John opened the bag and pulled out the wallet and handed it to the old man, who then thumbed through it to see if his money was still there. As he did that, Dr. John saw the name on the old man’s driver’s license: Ronald Baxter. And when the old man flipped the card over to check for something else, Dr. John then saw a large 4-leaf clover.

“My God! Mr. BAXTER??? You work at the iron works mill down on Smith Street, right?”

“Yes, I did. How did you know that???”

“It’s ME, Johnny! I gave you that 4-leaf clover when I was a little kid selling Kool-Aid on Smith Street a long time ago! Remember?”

“Johnny??? Well, I’ll be damned! Although as I recall, I paid for it!” he said with a pain-inducing groan.

“Mr. Baxter, you are one VERY lucky man. The stab wound you suffered barely missed critical organs. We got you stitched up and will keep you here a few days. I’ll let the police know that you can speak to them so any relatives or friends can be contacted.

“Now, aren’t you glad you bought that clover?”

“You said it would bring me good luck!”

“Yes, indeed!”

Guaranteed.