本棚
検索
Short
The 50-Dollar Urn

The 50-Dollar Urn

短編ストーリー · Emotional Realism
作家:  Kit Avery完了
言語: English
goodnovel4goodnovel
9チャプター
471ビュー
読む
本棚に追加

共有:  

報告
あらすじ
カタログ
コードをスキャンしてアプリで読む

概要

Plot Twists

Feel-Good Story

Bias

Face Slapping

Regret

I was the only female carpenter in town, and I made caskets at cost price for anyone in the area who needed one. Everyone said I was generous, kind-hearted, the whole routine. Then one afternoon, Doug Hadley showed up at my shop with his wife Trish Grady and a handful of neighbors to order a cremation urn. Trish stared at the price tag. "An urn for only 50 dollars? What is this, scrap wood?" Doug shot her a look. "Don't run your mouth about things you don't understand. It's solid ebony. Bridget makes them herself, so it's cheaper." Trish snickered behind her hand. "Solid ebony? That might fool someone who doesn't know any better. My cousin runs a funeral supply shop, so trust me, I know what I'm looking at. This isn't ebony. It's plywood. It's five dollars' worth of material, tops. "I can take you all to my cousin's place. I'll make sure he gives us a deal." The neighbors were already nodding. "The urn's supposed to last a hundred years. Obviously, I want the best for my mom." "Selling plywood and calling it ebony... You ought to be ashamed." "Come on, let's all go to Trish's cousin. I'm not giving her the chance to make dirty money off any of us." Dirty money? As far as I knew, mine was the only shop in town that actually stocked real ebony. Everyone else used MDF. If they were not afraid of the thing falling apart, they were welcome to go for it.

もっと見る

最新チャプター

続きを読む

この作品を読んだあなたへ

新刊小説

読者の皆様へ

Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.

コメントはありません
9 チャプター
Chapter 1
I had just brought the finished urn out to the worktable when Doug Hadley walked in with his new wife, Trish Grady, and a handful of neighbors.Trish glanced at the urn, and her eyes went wide. "What? An urn for only 50 dollars? What is this, scrap wood?"I was irritated, but I kept my voice even. "It's solid ebony. We're neighbors, so I sell it cheap. I'm not making a profit on it."Trish pressed a hand over her mouth, her voice thin and shrill. "Solid ebony? That might fool someone who doesn't know any better."Bridget, just because we're all neighbors and nobody wants to call you out doesn't mean you can just make things up. Anyone can tell this is plywood with a coat on it. It's five dollars' worth of material, tops."I stopped short. Five dollars? That would not even cover the cost of plywood.Doug jabbed Trish with his elbow. "Don't talk about things you don't understand. Bridget's a carpenter. She makes these herself and only charges for materials, so of course, it's cheap
続きを読む
Chapter 2
Gail lived right next door, with just a wall between us. She was a single mother raising her daughter on her own while taking care of her bedridden, paralyzed mother. Between work and looking after the two of them, she was constantly run ragged. I often cooked extra and brought meals over to her place.She would eat until she had grease all over her lips and say, "I'm the luckiest woman alive to have you as my neighbor, Bridget."There was a tradition in our town. Once a parent turned 60, the children were expected to start making burial arrangements.Three days ago, Doug's father and Gail's mother celebrated their birthdays on the same day. They had each ordered an urn from me, and we had agreed they would come pick them up today.Every day after that, Gail had been watching me plane the wood. I never expected her to side with Trish and slander me.As far as I knew, mine was the only shop in the area that sold real ebony urns. Everyone else used MDF. The stuff did not last. MDF r
続きを読む
Chapter 3
Trish tilted her chin up, looking pleased with herself. "She's a crook! Don't let her get away with it."I was shaking with anger. "Trish, if you keep this up, I'm calling the police."Trish looked completely unbothered and straightened her spine.I pulled out my phone and dialed. "Someone is causing a disturbance outside my shop. I need someone here right away."The police arrived quickly. After hearing both sides, they dispersed the crowd."Trish, if you have a complaint, you can file one through the proper channels. But standing out here and blocking her business is not acceptable."Trish pursed her lips and said nothing."This isn't really something we can settle for you. But since you're all neighbors, I would say try to keep things civil. Just give them the refund."Trish raised her eyebrows smugly. "That's right! Refund!"I had no choice. I transferred 16 dollars to Doug.Trish's brows furrowed. "You shorted him. A third of 50 dollars is 16.67. You still owe him anothe
続きを読む
Chapter 4
[I've never once seen her out there working. Her yard is spotless. Not a speck of sawdust anywhere. She buys plywood online and glues the urns together. She'll do anything to make a dirty buck.]Doug suddenly spoke up: [Now that I think about it, Bridget isn't even from here. She wandered in as a kid, and the old carpenter took her in. We took her in out of the goodness of our hearts, and this is how she repays us? Kick her out! Someone like that doesn't deserve to live in Millbrook!]The rest of the group piled on.[Yeah, kick her out!][Get out of our town!][A crook like her has no place here!]They even hung a banner outside my shop. [Fraudulent merchant sells fake urns! Get out of our town! Justice for Millbrook!]My heart went completely cold. I found the business card and called Neil. "Mr. Compton, I've made my decision. I would like to take you up on that partnership."The next morning, I packed my things and rolled down the shutters.Trish and Doug were standing acr
続きを読む
Chapter 5
The MDF could not hold the weight of the ashes. Cracks spread along the seams and the whole thing split apart, pieces of board scattering across the ground. A gust of wind swept through. The ashes lifted and scattered into the air.Hank's legs gave out. He dropped to his knees and stared at the ashes spread across the ground, his whole body shaking as he wept.The relatives who had come for the funeral crouched down around him while moving slowly, terrified of disturbing what little remained. However, even that was not enough to save it.His eyes were raw and red. "How? How did this happen?"Hank broke down completely. He sat on the ground and howled, "Mom, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."Still, it was already too late. All that was left of the ashes fit in the palm of his hand.The others started to panic. "Without an urn, how are we supposed to hold the burial?"Gail's lips moved a few times before she managed to speak. "Maybe we should check Bridget's shop. The ones she
続きを読む
Chapter 6
Mitch did not even flinch. "What do you mean you lost your mother's ashes because of my urn? You dropped it and broke it yourself, and now, you want to blame me for it. I've seen people skip out on a bill. I've seen people act unreasonably. But I've never seen someone try to scam a free urn out of a funeral shop."Hank's chest heaved. "You sold us garbage and passed it off as quality. Now something's gone wrong and you won't own up to it."Gail's brows were knitted tightly together. "You're nothing but a crook selling us defective urns. You owe us an explanation today."Hank's voice was hoarse. "That's right. You're not just refunding us for the urns. You're paying for the damage you caused when my mother's ashes were lost."Mitch tipped his chin up, completely indifferent. "You think 1,500 dollars gets you top-grade ebony? You get what you pay for. You picked the style yourself and paid for it willingly. Now that something has happened, you come crawling back to start trouble. You
続きを読む
Chapter 7
There was nowhere to take their grievance. Hank grabbed Trish with one hand and Doug with the other."If he won't pay, then you two will."Doug tried to pull free, but the crowd closed in around them."If it weren't for you two, none of us would've come here to buy 1,500-dollar urns.""You got us into this mess. You're paying for it."Trish's eyes stung, and she nearly burst into tears. "This has nothing to do with me. I'm a victim too."Gail's voice shot up. "Didn't you say he was your cousin? Your own cousin would scam you? He must have promised you a kickback. That's the only reason you pushed us into this."Hank caught on as well. "Did you two take a cut?"Doug's eyes darted away. He would not look at Hank. "No... No, we didn't."Hank pressed his lips together and tightened his grip. "Not going to tell the truth, huh? Think carefully. Would you rather explain yourselves here, or explain yourselves down at the station?"The moment Trish heard 'the station', her legs nearly
続きを読む
Chapter 8
I hung up and blocked his number. However, the moment I put the phone down, it buzzed again. This time, it was Gail. I hung up on her too.However, they kept calling. Messages flooded in one after another.[Bridget, we need to talk to you. Please pick up.]=Bridget, please be the bigger person and answer the phone. We really have nowhere else to turn to.]By the end of the afternoon, I had over 99 missed calls and unread messages. I finally answered out of sheer irritation, just to keep it from disrupting my work.Gail's frantic voice came through the line. "Bridget, thank goodness you finally picked up."My voice was cold. "What do you want?"She hesitated. "Bridget, where are you right now? We need you to make us three urns."I let out a dry laugh. "You want me to make them? It's been, what, a few days? And you've already forgotten how you called my urns plywood fakes? How you said I was making dirty money off all of you? And you have the nerve to come back to me?"There wer
続きを読む
Chapter 9
My business found its footing, and word started to spread. Funeral companies came looking for partnerships, and even municipal funeral homes in other cities placed orders with us. I was busy from dawn to dark, barely stopping to eat.Still, I was happy to be working. No one questioned me here. No one accused me of anything. Surrounded by wood shavings and sawdust, I had finally found where I belonged.I never expected to see Hank and Gail again. Somehow, they had tracked down my new address. The two of them pushed through the shop door, looking worn and sheepish. "Bridget, it's been a while."I froze.Hank scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "Bridget… I'm sorry... Bridget… We were wrong. We know we screwed up."He kept his head down, his face flushed red.Gail stepped forward and reached for my hand. I stepped aside before she could touch me.I pointed at the door. "If you came to apologize, I've heard it. You can go now."Gail stood there, awkward and rooted to the sp
続きを読む
もっと見る
無料で面白い小説を探して読んでみましょう
GoodNovel アプリで人気小説に無料で！お好きな本をダウンロードして、いつでもどこでも読みましょう！
アプリで無料で本を読む
コードをスキャンしてアプリで読む
DMCA.com Protection Status