The Rollin' Store

by Danna Shirley
This is an assignment in writing class to use all the words in bold (or any form thereof) in a story:

extraordinary     byway     happy     Spanish     chicken coop     
beautiful     community     heartburn     hair           

In our little community of Shirley’s Crossroad, just a little byway out in the country, Daddy Jack and me would take our rollin’ store and sell the vegetables we plucked from the patch by the house that MawMaw tended for us every year.

Daddy Jack and me did the big plantin’ out in the field but MawMaw watched over the radishes, carrots, sweet taters, tomatas, and strawberries. When they was ripe and ready, she boxed ‘em up and we took ‘em in our makeshift trailer headin’ down the road. We stopped at every house along the way and sold a little bit here and a little bit there. We had a good business goin’ and pretty soon others were doin’ the same. In fact, they was steppin’ on our livelihood.

We come up with a new idea when Daddy Jack went out to the chicken coop one mornin’. Now ever’body round here had chickens so ever’body had eggs, but we begin to color them eggs just like at Easter and the young’uns loved it. They begged their momma to buy our eggs. So we was now one step up on the competition.

Next we figured ta pickle some of them eggs but that didn’t go over so good with Festus Barker cuz it caused his heartburn to flare up. He said it were a hair raisin’ experience fer him all night long.

We were happy and even makin’ a pretty good livin’ but time marches on and life happens. I got drafted and went in the Army. Daddy Jack and MawMaw was getting’ older and it weren’t so easy to get out in the patch or drive the rollin’ store. Soon they was just plantin’ for themselves and enjoying the fruit of their labor.

I was stationed in Texas and met a beautiful Mexican gal and she taught me Spanish so’s I could get around with the locals. She fixed up some vittles I’d never tasted before and they was extraordinarily hot. My taste buds were burnin’ but I took a likin’ to them tacos, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, and quesadillas. I think I'll marry her and bring her back home with me. We'll add somethin' new to the rollin' store.

There is a Shirley's Crossroads in Crenshaw County, AL and my grandfather-in-law, Daddy Jack, did have a rolling store. he was born in 1890.