2812. The hoarder © Bruce Goodman 12 August 2023

Wilfred was a hoarder. He didn’t hoard everything, just cardboard boxes. The bigger the box the better. He had a shed out the back where he stored them. “You never know when we might shift house and need them,” he said to his wife. His wife used to say, “The first thing I’m going to do after your funeral is burn them.” Mavis wouldn’t go near the back shed. Wilfred would go there now and again “to rearrange the boxes”. If it had been raining and the corner of a box may have got wet he would be grumpy. “I’m not going out there just to see you get grumpy,” Mavis would say. And she never went there. It was a sad day when Wilfred died suddenly. As Fate would have it Mavis and Wilfred had no plans to shift house. After the funeral, Mavis started to clean up his things. Eventually she knew she had to face the boxes in the shed. She took the first box down. There was something inside. She looked. It was a beautiful ornate clock. Every box contained the most wondrous clock. One of them contained a note. It read: Dear Mavis - You sell this collection of clocks and you’ll be set up for life. Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story