To Have and Have Not It had been boring hanging about the hotel all afternoon. The road crew were playing a game with dollar notes. Folding them into small planes to see whose would fly the furthest.1 Having nothing better to do,I joined in and won five,and then took the opportunity to escape with my profit. Despite the evil-looking clouds,I had to get out for a while. I headed for a shop on the other side of the street. Unlike the others,it didnt have a sign shouting its name and business,and instead of the usual impersonal modern lighting,there was an appealing glow inside. Strangely nothing was displayed in the window. Not put off by this,I went inside. It took my breath away. I didnt know where to look, where to start. On one wall there hung three hand-stitched American quilts that were in such wonderful condition they might have been newly-made. I came across tin toys and antique furniture, and on the wall in front of me, a 1957 Stratocaster guitar , also in excellent condition. A card pushed between the strings said $50. I ran my hand along a long shelf of records, reading their titles. And there was more... Can I help you? She startled me. I hadnt even seen the woman behind the counter come in. The way she looked at me, so directly and with such power. It was a look of such intensity that for a moment I felt as if I were wrapped in some kind of magnetic or electrical field. I found it hard to take and almost turned away. But though it was uncomfortable. I was fascinated by the experience of her looking straight into me, and by the feeling that I was neither a stranger, nor strange, to her. |