creative Prompt #85 - Creative

[comicfan]

Welcome to "Everything Old". It is a special kind of shop and everyone seems to remember it being here in town forever. It has a new owner, you. Good luck.

[JamesSavik]

Earl's Surplus

 

 

My crazy Uncle named Earl died suddenly on a cold February night in 2005. His lawyer called me the next morning informing me that I was the sole beneficiary of his will and that I needed to take steps to keep his business in operation if I was so disposed.

 

I met with the lawyer that morning in his office and was shocked that Earl was worth a little more than thirty-five million in cash, real estate and inventory. It was no surprise that I was his designated heir. His three wives had never been able to put up with his deployments, the uncertainties of army life and staying in town while he was away without screwing everything with a pulse. He had no children and spoiled me outrageously when I was young. He was my favorite Uncle despite my parents misgivings about his marital problems and his on again, off again deployments.

 

I arrived at my Uncle's store that afternoon. My Mom had banned me from the place when I was a kid. She hated the army, guns and anything remotely military and did her best to keep me away from Crazy Earl.

 

Earl was drafted into the Army as a teenager during WWII and stayed in the army thirty years with stops all over the world including his last action in Vietnam in the early seventies.When he finally came home in the seventies, he used his considerable connections to start an Army Surplus store ten minutes down the highway from Fort Bragg.

 

His little store was something of a shrine to the 82nd airborne- Earl's old unit. There was a large area in the front of the store that had memorabilia from the unit as far back as its inception in 1917 as the "All-American" Division. It served with distinction as foot infantry in places likeSt. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne in France until the end of the Great War.

 

He even had pictures and news paper articles from the divisions decommissioning ceremony in 1919. The division was reborn as a army reserve unit with soldiers from South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

 

Where the shrine really got interesting was when the 82nd was activated for world war II and changed into an elite division of paratroopers. There were walls of photos and artifacts from the second world war era. An early parachute hung from the ceiling as did models of DC-3s and the gliders used by the 82nd in their landings at Normandy and Nijmegen. M1 Garande and carbine rifles were prominently displayed as were a pair of Thompson sub machine guns. Maps showed the 82nd's exploits in Europe as they fought their way from Normandy to Berlin.

 

The Cold War stuff is where things got weird. The 82nd was rarely deployed anywhere for long. They trained extensively all over the world and in all environments. They also trained in hot spots that were considered future battlefields like the Fulda Gap in Germany, the Golan Heights in Israel and the hills and mountains of South Korea.

 

As I was looking at the displays I didn't hear the store manager approach me. When he spoke, he startled me.

 

"Impressive isn't it?"

 

I turned around to see a mountain of a man. He said, "You must be old Earl's nephew Tommy. I am his store manager Bulldog Finn. Sorry for your loss. Old Earl was one of the good guys"

 

He extended his massive hand toward me and I saw the 82nd's insignia tattooed on his forearm.

 

I took his hand and said, "Thanks. I'm Tom Jamison. I guess I'm the new owner."

 

Bulldog said, "Come this way and I'll show you to the office."

 

We went through a secure steel door that required a key-card and went down a flight of stairs. Once we were out of sight, he asked, "What do you plan to do with the place?"

 

I said, "This just dropped in my lap this morning. Tell you the truth I haven't really decided yet but I've seen the paperwork on the place. It's one hell of a money maker."

 

We went into an office and sat down. I could see out into the huge basement . There was all sorts of equipment out there.

 

Bulldog asked, "Your Uncle said you were a technology guy."

 

I replied, "Yeah. I have a double major: computer science and electronics. Something I've got to ask. The revenue for this place. We aren't just selling camping gear are we."

 

Bulldog got a big grin on his face and said, "We sell excellent camping gear on the 3rd floor but you are right. We do have another function. Ever watch James Bond films?"

 

I nodded.

 

"Remember the odd little guy named Q that gave Bond all his gadgets?"

 

I said, "Yeah. he was my favorite Bond character."

 

Bulldog said, "Good. A lot of what we do is top secret. We are basically Q for the 82nd airborne, Army Rangers, SOCOM, Delta Force and whoever else is training at Bragg. We have contracts to supply and service their gear and we're really good at it. All of our people were in the unit and are retired or medically retired."

 

"How does it work?"

 

"Of course they have their own supply people and that's fine for most things. Where we come in is special gear. Like a hardened laptop running Linux and loaded with special hacking tools. A radio that can read the other guys encrypted signals. Special stuff that we must deliver in working condition and train the operators how to use."

 

I was surprised at first but knowing Earl, this was right up his alley. "This is my Uncle's shop all right. Sounds like fun. Where do we start?"

[comicfan]

I like that. Turned "Everything Old" into a high tech spy store. Can't wait to see what the rest do with this idea.

[Dolores Esteban]

'Treasure Dome'

[comicfan]

Wow Dolores did a completely different spin on the idea. Glad you both took a shot at it.

 

Now Andy 021278 also did it but he never linked anyone to it so doing it for him.

 

https://www.gayauthors.org/story/andy021278/andysshortstogaprompts/5