The Magical $1 Purse

On a random day off from work i decided to go for a walk. i was feeling a little down, and needed some sun and community to lift my spirits. it was mid-day. wait. maybe it was closer to sun down. yeah, sundown. I passed by a small shop with open doors, soft gospel cracking from the radio, and a handfull of plastic bins outside. each brimming with knick knacks, colors, and old clothes. wasn't in any kind of hurry, so i dived in to see what i could find. picked up a pukey-grey leather purse with a broken zipper. it beamed with character. i carried it inside to ask about the cost, and found a shop full of old ladies selling second-hand clothes: hats, shoes, sweaters you name it. "HI, how much is this?" i asked the first lady i saw. she smiled. her cranberryrimmed church hat outlined her face. she baby-stepped her way over to the bosslady (a brown woman who looked as if she could use a good back massage, or warm foot rub). from her cluttered corner, she muttered, "One Dollar." My excitement must have registered with the cranberryrimmedchurchhatlady b/c she directed me to a rack of other purses. sequined whites, shimmery golds, and basic black. my eyes zeroed in on a homely forest green one w/ wrap around strap. "3 dollars" she said. i was hooked. i went on to play with scarves and belts, and even browsed through the jackets and sweaters, and jibber jabbed with a 2 year old boy carrying a clear plastic purse.

fast-forward about two weeks (actually today).

i'm waiting outside for my friend and i'm wearing the "One Dollar" purse. the zipper's still broken but i'm hoping no one will notice. as i'm looking at the broken zipper that i'm hoping no one will notice, my eye catches the site of paper off in a tiny corner. i look closer to see if there's a hole, or if the two bucks i'd stuffed in there earlier somehow made their way to small corner. i have no idea.

to my surprise, delight, pleaure, euphoria, eureka, omg, wtf, can this be true?

i pull from a small pocket (on the right hand side) a roll of bills wrapped around some plastic-rectangle, number thingie. i unfold the bills and count out $41 bucks. yes. $41 bucks. tucked in a tiny pocket in a pukey-grey purse that i paid One Dollar for from a plastic bin in a small shop on a sunny (but inside, cloudy) day.

I went out and bought wooden frames and a shitload of acrylic paint.