John's Jar

John staggered from the bar boasting to whoever would listen about being able to finally fire a worker he had longed to get rid of. A block from his apartment he saw a shop with its lights still on and the open sign in the window. The Curiosity Shop, how had he missed the place his inebriated mind wondered? He sneered at the name, nothing ever held his curiosity, and everything was black and white.

He staggered in the door unable to resist the urge to browse through the little shop. The bell on the door sent chills down his spine. Who in their right mind would use bells on the door it was so 1970’s. The piles of things he seen ranged from somewhat bizarre to completely normal.

As he was assessing the value of a particular piece, he noticed a yellow cat in the corner of the store. The cat's eyes followed his every move. This shop could not be making much of a profit with a cat in it; surely, he thought he could get any item he wanted at a bargain. The red hat on the shelf caught his attention. He loved the hat. He had to have it. He decided to play it cool; he wanted to get it at a bargain.

The shopkeeper watched as John browsed. He looked up feeling her measuring eyes on him. His cold gray eyes meet her deep blue eyes that seemed to seer right though him, all the way to his dark cold soul. The feeling made him a little uneasy. Therefore, he broke the stare, with a snide sounding remark. “Interesting, shop you have here.” Now John felt superior once again and continued to look through the shop. He picked up the hat and inside on the tag it read, ‘Only for the warm of heart.’ John laughed a cold bitter sound. “How idiotic can you get?” he murmured quietly.

“I wouldn’t take any of the warnings on these items as a joke, where, I you.”

“Oh and what makes you think I would take anything that is in this shop for anything other than a joke?” After getting a better look at the shopkeeper, he decided to lighten his approach. She was after all a very attractive woman, and who knew, maybe he could charm her. “I am John Agate, he held out his hand to her.”

“I’m Alice, the owner of this interesting little shop,” she said in a cold voice, though she did shake his extended hand.

John knew he would have to work miracles to charm her after her response. He looked at her again and her appearance seemed to have changed somewhat. Before he thought she merely had bark brown hair, now it was a jet black almost a purple it was so dark. Her figure had not changed; it was of the type that he could appreciate. When he looked at her eyes they were a slightly different shade now more green than blue. He quickly looked away somewhat uncomfortable. “I’ll keep the, um, warnings in mind.”

He moved away thinking he would get the quilt as a joke for the person he was about to give ‘axe’ to at work. Becky would probably even take the gift as a silly sign that he was sorry for what he had to do. He knew better. The quilt was thick, nice and warm looking and he considered getting it for himself until he read the label it was the comfort quilt. He did not need any, ‘quilt of comfort’ however; Becky would after he was done. He laughed darkly at the thought of firing her then saying in his most sincere voice, ‘I’m so sorry, I hope this quilt will be some comfort to you.’ His head felt light at the thought.

Some of the alcohol started to affect him more than it had before. He decided it was time to make the purchases and leave. The heck with trying to charm Alice, his mind comforted him in his drunken state. He picked up the quilt and walked back to the red hat. It was his favorite type of hat, a baseball cap. He resisted the urge to put the cap on his head and started towards the counter. That was when the jar caught his eye. The jar was beautiful, it captured his eye and he knew he would have to leave with it. The black glass of the bottle reflected the lights from the shop then he noticed the jeweled lid. In his greed, he imagined the high value of the bottle.

Alice wrung up all the items. When she got to the bottle, she gasp, her hands shook as she wrapped the bottle. “Are you sure you want the jar of ‘terk’?”

“Oh yes, I absolutely have to have it.” His cold eyes flashed with greed.

As Alice rang up the item, she wondered about each of his purchases. The hat was for someone with a good heart. The quilt was to be a comfort. The bottle though that was different, it was, the closest thing she had seen to pure evil. That was why she never ever touched it; even now, she had tissue in her hand touching the glass. “Are you absolutely sure about your purchases? There is a no return policy on the items.”

“That’s fine,” John said, thinking of each item and the purpose he had for them.

The next morning, John got up and tripped over the bag in the floor. He barely remembered making it home. Where had these things come from? Then it all came flooding back. He grinned as he took out the red hat and placed it on his dresser. Then he removed the jar, leaving it wrapped for now. He left the quilt in the bag with a smile on his face. He had plans for that today.

He whistled as he walked into his office. The two large windows, the huge desk and comfortable chair were rightfully his. He had earned them with his motto of, ‘Human Resources were not his job, and management of resources was!’ He set himself up checking his mock, sincerity in his small mirror before he called Becky into his office. Oh, how she bugged him, she was the only one in his department that had been with the company longer than he had. She was warm and caring and she had finally messed up. He had to work to keep the glee out of his voice as he told her; he had to let her go. He put his face in his hands to hide his smile as she began to cry. When he had his reactions under control, he stood and walked around the desk with the bag containing the quilt.

“Now Becky, you know, you and I have been through a lot together. I just hate that I had to do this. I hope you will not hate me. I got you this quilt, hoping you would be comforted.” The words felt like he was twisting a knife in her as he said them.

“Mr. Agate, you didn’t have to do this. I know you are only doing your job. It was my fault. I messed up. I had hoped that the company would be forgiving since I have been here so long.” She took the bag and left the office, cleared her desk and she was escorted out. The rest of his day was the best he ever had.

Becky arrived home, with the quilt in the bag. She could not believe that Mr. Agate had given her the quilt. She had hoped to keep her job. Now it would be harder, for her family to make ends meet with just her husband working. She took the quilt out of the bag and as she took it out of the wrapping, the quilt came apart and several thousand dollars came out of the unstitched side. She noticed that there was a recipient at the bottom of the bag, with the name The Curiosity Shop. She decided to return the money as the owner of the shop.

The next morning being Saturday, was one of John’s favorite days. He decided he would check his email first then he would head out to the ballpark, wearing his new hat. When he checked his email he had a few new ones from eBay things he had been trying to get, he had been outbid. That reminded him, of the bottle. He wondered how much it was worth. It had to be worth a fortune the way Alice acted when he purchased the jar. The name brought back the picture of the woman in the shop to his mind, and left him feeling unfulfilled.

Angry now he stalked into the room, picked up the hat and shoved it on his head. Immediately, the hat felt like it was squeezing his head. It felt like his head would burst if he did not take the hat off. He ripped the hat off his head and threw it across the room. He hated it when he wasted money. He had purchased a hat that was too small. He grabbed the hat determined to throw it away and headed out of the house, towards the ball park. He passed a man begging for change on the corner and threw the hat at him. How dare, that trash beg on the corner, he deserved to get trash, John thought as he disappeared around the corner.

The man on the corner picked up the hat, thinking the man must have been generous to through a hat full of money at him. He put the money in his pocket and the hat on his head and left the corner, his life changed forever.

John left the game. His favorite team resoundingly defeated. He unlocked his apartment and went in remembering he had left his computer on, there was an error flashing on the screen. Under it was a message from the company Head Quarters, which did not look good. However, he could not get to it, due to the stupid error. He turned off the computer and started it back up nothing, not even a stupid beep. He checked his surge strip and it was on. He did everything he could think of and still nothing. His computer was dead. Now he would have to go to the office on his day off to find out what they wanted.

He walked in his bedroom thinking; maybe he would grab a nicer shirt and go up there. That is when he saw the bottle sitting on his dresser. He greedily rubbed his hands over the bottle’s dark surface. Then he rewrapped the bottle and set it on his bed while he got ready.

He was speechless when he arrived at work and read the email. They were going to promote Becky, they could not believe that he had fired her, and they were sending a representative to see her immediately. In fact, they should have arrived at her house already. Her ‘mess’ had actually been a blessing, the company was so pleased that they were giving her an executive position, or going to offer it to her in hopes that she would accept. He wondered if his day could get any worse.

When he got home, the jar was a reminder that things were not all bad. He decided to see what was inside. He opened the lid. The aroma that wafted from the jar was heavenly. He poured the contents into a wine glass knowing the scent of a fine wine when he smelled it. He went to his couch and sat down and flipped on the TV the news was on. There was a human-interest piece some unknown person had given a red hat full of money to a man changing his life. He had went to the news station thinking that possibly the money was stolen, to find out it was not. Now he was thanking that stranger. John recognized the man that had begged for money, only this morning. How? He had not thrown any money just the stupid hat.

Now he sipped the wine. The taste was utter ecstasy, though it burned a little going down his throat. Then he could not catch his breath, except in little gasps. He took a bigger drink thinking to clear his throat, only to have it close completely. As he stood gasping for breath, he was able to reach the jar. He grabbed at it greedily thinking he could chase away the problems and tried to drink the contents only to have his closed throat refuse the liquid. He capped the jar just before he fell to the floor.

Becky sat in on her couch with the quilt up around her shoulders, amazed at the turn of events. Alice at ‘The Curiosity Shop’ said she was glad the quilt was a comfort but that she was not missing any money, and she was sorry the quilt was torn. Becky had looked around the shop and held the yellow cat, with large green eyes.
When she got home, she turned on the TV. The news was on and she sat stunned, at the announcement of the death of the man known as the ‘Red Hat Giver’. It was John Agate, her former boss. He had a black jar in his hand. The camera zoomed in on the jar. Before Becky looked away, she saw the name on the bottom of the jar. It read the jar of Terk. Becky’s eyes grew large, she knew of this jar. She thought it was only a gypsy legend handed down. She knew terk, meant torture in Indo-European.

Written for the contest 'The Curiosity Shop', word count 2,305 using prompt, of a Jar, a Quilt, a hat. The story received an honorable mention in that contest, July of 2009.