The Car Salesman

The Car Salesman’s Tale

        There was once a fox named Sam. Sam had been raised by his devoted mother who had always looked out for he child and tried to raise him as best as she could. He grew up a carefree young fox that loved to run around and live the usual fox life of playing by the pond and chasing small animals. He was often spoiled with extra privileges and treats but everyone still knew him as a good-natured fox. Most of the other foxes admired Sam and wished for the wonderful life of love and happiness that he had. But somehow this wasn’t enough for Sam.

        Now maybe being a fox had something to do with it, but somehow Sam grew up to be greedy and dishonest. It started out harmless; Sam would break into a few chicken coops just to spite the farmer. But there were some things that Sam had not been taught yet and he was going to have to learn them the hard way.

        All of the animals of the forest envied Sam for his good looks, strong personality, popularity and charm. But to Sam this just wasn’t good enough, he wanted more and he was going to do anything he could to get what he wanted, no matter who or what he had to step on along the way. What Sam wanted more then anything else in the world was money and success. Growing up without a lot of it made Sam want it even more. He just assumed that money would make him the happy fox he had always dreamed about. His materialism changed the once all around carefree, happy go lucky fox into a fox that’s inside boiled with greed.

        Sam soon decided that the easiest way to make money was by starting a business. He knew of an abandoned scooter factory filled with thousands of broken down scooters and decided this was the cheapest and easiest way to make a profit. The next step was selling them and achieving success. He learned that the only way for him to make lots of money was to charge even more! Scooters were the current "rage" but also very hard to come by. Most of his clients were country folk and they had no idea what the going prices of the scooters were! Sam decided to charge fifty bucks for the scooters and no one seemed to notice that they were being conned or maybe they didn’t have the common sense to do anything about it. Sam didn’t seem to either. He just went about make more and more money trying to fulfill his dreams of bigger and better things.

        Yes things looked pretty good for Sam! He had a new den complete with custom furnishings, a brand new high powered, deluxe edition scooter that he used to advertise when making a sale. (It may seem like it would have been obvious to the country folk that they were being conned, but remember, they were country folk)! Sam’s life had totally changed for Sam but it would still.

        Sam tried to focus on selling the scooters to very old folk. These animals wanted the scooters to help them get around faster and make themselves feel young again, and some of these customers wanted to give the scooters to their grandchildren. Sometimes the older customers would even hand Sam and five hundred-dollar bill instead of fifty. This was a quick (and dishonest) way for Sam to get ten times the profit.

        One day Sam spotted a very old she-bunny hobbling along the road. Sam’s eyes flashed with dollar signs. He hopped on his scooter and glided over to his next victim The bunny didn’t seem to notice the flashy, fire engine red scooter with spotless chrome handlebars gliding toward her. Sam stopped right in her path and flashed his perfect grin.

        "Hello there," Sam said energetically. "You look like you’re in need of a scooter! Can I interest you in our latest model?"

        "I’m not sure," squeaked the bunny’s soft voice.

        "Let me assure you! Why today is Wednesday," he said excitedly. "Wednesday is our Super Scooter Sale Day! You can order our deluxe model today and pay only fifty dollars!"

         This bunny was obviously very old. Her gray whiskers were thin and her soft fur was faded. Her blue-gray eyes were tired and dull but were hidden behind her small rimmed glasses. She carried an intricately carved wooden cane with a sparkly blue glass ball on the handle. She wore tattered moth eaten clothing with a light blue shawl over her shoulders.

        "Okey Dokey! Be prepared for a brand new scooter!" the fox confirmed.

        Now this bunny was not as half-witted as she seemed. In fact, she had known exactly what she was doing and what Sam was trying to do to her. She was testing Sam to see if he was still up to his evil ways. And sure enough, the next day a rusty scooter squeaked out of the box it arrived in. Sam was going to have to pay for what he had done.

        The bunny traveled to Sam’s beautiful den and welcomed herself in. Sam was sitting in his black leather easy chair grinning as he counted the large stack of bills he held. The bunny shook her head and sighed. Sam heard her and turned around.

        "Remember me?" The bunny asked as she twirled her finger and spun around before Sam. A large puff of smoke appeared and when it finally cleared, a beautiful fairy stood tall before Sam. Sam’s jaw dropped in astonishment.

        "I’m Mabel the queen fairy in this entire land. But you probably remember me as that old bunny who you sold that "lovely" scooter to yesterday."

        Mabel’s soft blonde curls twisted down her back to her sparkling blue gown that flowed over her like pond water glistening in the early morning sun.

        "But…you…. How…what?" Is all Sam could say.

        "You have been very greedy, Sam! You’ve taken what rightfully belongs to other people and there shall be consequences!"

        "Consequences?" Sam gulped.

        "Yes, you’ll see."

        With that she disappeared. When Sam finally snapped out of his shock he realized it was only a dream. And he soon got back to counting his money. But that didn’t last long. All of a sudden shouting and stomping startled Sam and it seemed to be coming from directly above his den! Sam opened his skylight and saw an angry mob of country animals with broken down scooter parts and pitchforks in hand.

        "Cum outta there, Sam, ya coward," the angry mob shouted.

        They were all customers Sam had conned into buying scooters.

        In a panic, Sam grabbed his money and crawled out of the back entrance and ran with the angry mob close behind him. The first building he saw was the warehouse where he found all of the broken down scooters. He ran in a slammed the door quickly.

        "Few," Sam sighed in relief.

        He hadn’t had time to stop and think during all the chaos. But before he could think Mabel appeared.

        "What do they want from me?" Sam asked.

        "They want the money you took from them." She replied.

        "It’s my money now!"

        "No Sam! Some of these people gave up their life savings because they thought their scooter would change their lives and make them successful. Just like you. But you all were wrong."

        "What can I do? I don’t want to loose my money."

        "I’m afraid you’ll have to wait and see."

        With a snap of her fingers she was gone. Sam turned and saw a mountain of brand new scooter parts across the room. He walked toward the pieces nervously and spotted a note attached to the paper. The paper said:

        Sam fell to the floor and reached into his pocket (where he usually went when things were going bad). But inside there was nothing. Absolutely nothing!

        "Oh no," he groaned.

        Sam just sat on the floor and tried to clear his mind and find away to get his life back. But nothing came to mind except to just put the scooters together and see what happened.

        So Sam painstakingly worked on putting the scooters back together. For ten months he lived in the abandoned warehouse, all alone, only eating the cold army meals left in the cellar from years ago. He slept on the cold, creaky surface of the warehouse with a thin felt blanket as his only warmth. The doors were locked from the inside and the windows were boarded up with rusty nails and splintered wood. Sam couldn’t even see the outside. Sam learned to experience life in a different way and it was very difficult to adapt.

        When the final scooter was completed Sam jumped for joy waiting for something spectacular to happen. However, Sam had not changed completely; he still yearned for his old life and desperately wanted his success back. He ran to the door eager to get home and get back to the way things used to be. Then Mabel appeared again.

        "Congratulations Sam, now all you have to do is deliver each and every one of these personally to your customers and you are free," Mabel said.

        "Thank you! I have truly learned my lesson. I just can’t wait to get home!" he replied.

        It didn’t take Sam very long to give all of the scooters to his customers. Even if he didn’t have his money any longer, he still had his house. But when Sam arrived at his house he discovered that it wasn’t the same. The entrance was ripped open and the entire den was destroyed. He assumed it was done by the angry mob that was out to destroy him. The only thing that Sam had left was himself and a stuffed fox that his mother had given him many years ago. He was very alone.

        Sam didn’t know where to go. He was scrappy and dirty and looked very old for his age. He tried to go to his rich friends but they didn’t even recognize him. They laughed at him and shooed him away.

        Sam wandered from place to place for two months searching for a friend. Although he had to learn the hard way, he finally learned that true happiness could not be held. Mabel saw this too but didn’t want to allow Sam to go back to the greedy and dishonest fox he had become.

        Mabel came to Sam and told him to follow the river. Sam did as she said and followed the river. At the end of the river he saw a young female fox, about his age, fishing in the pond. At first he thought it was his mother but he remembered that his mother was gone. He just stood, starring at the beautiful fox in awe. Then she caught sight of him and smiled. Sam was embarrassed to have been gawking at her so he ducked behind a tree and pretended no to be looking.

        "Hello. My name is Hannah. What’s yours?" He soft voice quietly asked.

        "Ummm…Uh…Sss….Ssss…Sam," He stuttered nervously.

        "Hello, Sam. Are you lost?"

        "No. I was just told to follow the river."

        "Oh. Well, this is the end of it. I live here and you are welcomed to live here too if you need a home."

        Sam smiled for the first time in a year! He had finally found the happiness and success he needed all along.

        "Thanks I think I might be moving in."

        Sam had been through a lot but he had finally found what was most important in his life, happiness.