Kandi's Kitschy Klothes -- Chips Ahoy!

Story soundtrack:



I started this story a few years ago. Recently, I had thought about starting a new blog; the blog would be entirely dedicated to a serial story. Since I haven't developed the story for that yet, I've decided to start small. So, every Friday, I'm going to add another chapter to this story. Tonight, you get two installments, because I have already written two. Terribly exciting, isn't it?!

By the way, Kandi Koski, the main character in my story, is based on a real person, well, in name only. I like to collect names, and Kandi Koski is one I collected from a local mall. I just happened to see her name on a business card in a jewelry store. (If you want to read more about my love of names, see http://goddessofallthingslovely.blogspot.com/2009/07/thats-not-my-name.html.)
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Kandi Koski looked out the window. It was snowing hard that Sunday. When the doors opened at 8am that morning, the usual crowd of little old ladies waiting to buy their $1 bags of Chips Ahoy cookies and $1.99 bottles of Windex had not been waiting. The little old ladies loved the bargains at the flea market, but their fear of the snow far outweighed their thriftiness.

Even though she knew it was a waste of time, Kandi dusted and organized her items. Kandi had opened a small vintage boutique at the flea market called Kandi's Kitschy Klothes. (It was an extremely stupid name she thought, but she had been an English major in college and went to extremes to create alliteration.)

After her divorce, she didn't like being home alone on the weekends, so she spent time going to yard sales. She wanted to give these ventures some purpose, so she chose to only purchase "gently used" clothing. Polyester disco shirts, platform shoes, men's fedoras, and Van Halen concert t-shirts were among her spoils.

When she finally ran out of places to hang these items, she realized that this activity was becoming more of an addiction than a hobby; thus, she needed to rid herself of most of these things that she would probably never wear. And, after all, Halloween only came once a year.

It was not quite 11AM, and Kandi was hungry and a bit depressed about the lack of clientele today due to the inclement weather. She put up her "Back in 10 Minutes" sign and headed over to the "Mrs. Nelson's Candy House" booth.

She thought a chocolate-covered wintergreen patty would taste pretty good about now. And, she and Jed, the proprietor of the stall, had their little routine that they carried out each Sunday.

She would walk the 50 yards to the food court at arrive at Jed's stall, which was front and center.

Jed was about Kandi's height; however, he was in his late 40s or early 50s, with short gray hair, light blue eyes, and when he looked at you, you knew that he was always genuinely glad to see you. Kandi loved that look.

If he was helping other customers, he would say, "Why, Kandi. You look lovely today. I'll be with you in just a minute." She was usually wearing one of her cheap, yard sale vintage ensembles, which in other environments would have had most people staring; however, at the flea market, fashion sense was deemed an inexpensive bargain, too.

She would respond with, "Why, thank you, Jed" and feign embarrassment at the compliment.

Then, when it was her turn to be served, Jed would say, "The usual, Kandi? A chocolate-covered wintergreen patty?”

She would say, "Oh, I really shouldn't. I think I've put on a little weight this Winter."

Jed would then say, "Not that I can see! You look super, Kandi."

She would giggle, pay for her patty, and head back to her safe haven, Kandi's Kitschy Klothes.

However, this Sunday, when Kandi arrived at Jed's booth, there were no other customers. When Jed saw her coming, he dropped his box of fudge, smoothed down his apron, and grinned.

They acted out the script of their usual Sunday encounter, except that after Kandi paid for her patty, Jed said, "Um, Kandi, wait a minute. There's something I've been meaning to ask you."
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What will Jed ask Kandi?
And will the little old ladies be back next Sunday to get their Chips Ahoy cookies?