October Memoir and Backstory Challenge: Secrets #2

Market Day

Watching the crowds walk past my booth
I amuse myself with the variety of
dogs and owners on parade.
I even see a kid on a leash,
and even that kid is enjoying
the unseasonably warm October day.

I'm surrounded by my paintings and pins,
cards and crafts.
I've been in a market since the Spring of '92
and I am used to not selling much
sometimes

On this Saturday of a  holiday weekend
I sell a mottled gold cat pin.
Ten dollars total for the day,
but the promise of bigger sales
keeps me hoping for the future.

Walking to the car after I tear down my booth
I drag my canopy behind me with one hand,
and cradle my two trays of greeting cards with the other.
I am ready for this part of my day to be over.
I feel the blue plastic containers slipping
and as they are about to fall
a man from behind offers me help
With relief I accept it.
He takes my canopy
and I carry the card trays securely with both hands.

"Are you a vendor?" I ask
"Yes", he says.
"Did you have a good day today?  The weather was great."

He stops.
I stop.

Quietly he leans in toward me and whispers,
"We made $2000.00 today!"

While telling me this his eyes fill with astonishment
and his body barely stops itself from leaping into mid-air.
(Good thing he's weighed down by my canopy, I muse.)

"That's fantastic!" I reply,
as I'm never going to tell him what I am really thinking.