"Well truly, this is a cause for celebration! Been savin' your pennies, have ye? And what about yer parents, young man? Do they know what you're doing with your hard-earned money?"
He nodded and glanced anxiously out the window at his father, still talking to the blacksmith.
Mrs. Cameron took down a box from the shelf and handed it to him: "Well, here it is then; the last and only one. Imagine! All the way from England it's come."
He opened the box slowly, reverently. He had opened it many times before, but this time it was different; this time it was his. It was the most beautiful trumpet he had ever seen; not a real trumpet mind you, but a tin trumpet which could play real notes, and as Mrs. Cameron had often said, it was as real as a trumpet could be unless you had almost ten dollars to spend.
He picked it up and caressed it lightly. He thought it looked like solid silver. He grinned shyly at Mrs. Cameron, put the trumpet to his lips, and blew as long and as hard as he could.
The howling of tires came from a green panel truck sliding sideways through the intersection behind Jeramiah. Car horns yammered from every direction, and he was shocked to see two drivers shaking their fists at him. He opened his mouth to shout back, but a groan passed his lips when he realised what he'd done.
The surge of power pressed him firmly into his
seat as he accelerated from the scene; he beat the next
traffic lights, then turned right at Woodbine and headed south.
Can see the lake from here. Pretty with the sun
shining on it like that. Now, what was it? Something
about cats
The doorman greeted him with a sunny smile, just as always: "Morning sir, beautiful ain't it?" He held the heavy glass door wide and gestured with a flourish.
"Yes, wonderful. Quite a nip in the air. Fresh. Reminds me of the country. And call me 'Jerry'. I keep tellin' you, none of that 'sir' stuff for me. All my friends call me 'Jerry'." He presented his Always Home card, the one with his photograph on it. "Apartment twelve-ten. Got some hungry cats to feed."
The woman in the elevator smiled at him, and he smiled back. She looked vaguely familiar, and he wondered if they had met before and if they had spoken. They smiled at each other all the way to the twelfth floor.
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