The rag and bone man picked through the pile of refuse with his hooked walking stick. A bit of metal glinted, so he bent to pick it up. He grunted and bent his arthritic knees, then sifted through the greasy pile of scraps. Fingers that jutted out of hole-ridden gloves chilled in the frozen goose fat.
He turned the goose carcass over and brushed some of the blackened grease off the shimmering metal inside, only to find a golden egg.
His good mood turned foul: who was rich enough to kill and eat a goose that laid golden eggs?
***
This was written for the Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Challenge, ‘Scraps.’ I love the TV series Sanford and Son, and I found out later that the series had a UK predecessor about rag and bone men. Both shows, then, are about people who deal in scraps – mostly scrap metal – in a time when the business is especially bad. Here I wrote what I imagine a 19th century rag and bone man would think if he were intertwined with a fable…
Love the twist on this old fable. Puts it in a completely new light.
I think this is a cool twist on a fractured fairy tale!
Hope that Bone Man was able to make use of the golden egg!
I enjoyed using scraps when I use my polymer clay… I haven’t done that in a while played with the clay. I used to make my own beads.
It is sad when old buildings with fond memories no longer exist. Thanks for stopping by my post on CR’s prompt.
Thanks for the comment! Hope you have an excellent day.
Mind = blown. You know this is gold, right?
Would love to see this grow…
I see your pun! And yes, it is gold, haha!
I remember that show! But I never heard of a rag and bone man before. So interesting! I appreciate the way you made something fantastical feel so real and gritty.
I wish I’d come up with it for the fractured fairy tale! Way better than what I’d submitted, lol.
I’d rather like to think that what we write opens us up to the next story.
Pingback: Scraps « Carrot Ranch Literary Community