Tuesday Tales: From the Word NAIL

Happy spring! Welcome to this week’s Tuedsay Tales. This week we have another word prompt. NAIL. I used a from of the word, FINGERNAIL. I’m continuing with Sea Breeze. Enjoy.

I followed Cal toward the front of the store, almost bumping into him when he stopped before another door. He unlocked it and turned on the light.

There were a dozen stairs disappearing into the darkness.

“The second light switch is right here,” he said, flicking it. “Feel free to come down here any time you want to. Supplies for the store and the boat are on the left. The stuff I took out of the storage on the third floor of the main house is over there. There are a few pieces of child-sized furniture that must’ve been yours. Seamus went through it all, tossed some stuff away, but what he kept are in those twelve storage bins. Unfortunately, he didn’t mark any of them, so you’ll have to open them up and look inside.”

I nodded.

“I won’t be long. Are you sure you’ll be okay? I can promise that while there may be a bug or two, there aren’t any mice.”

“Good to know.” If I saw a mouse, I would be hanging by my fingernails from the rafters when he came back to find me.

“Alexa, play my rainy-day playlist,” Cal said.

“Playing Cal’s rainy day play list,” the mechanical voice answered. The sounds of a guitar filled the room.

At my shocked face, Cal smiled. “It’s a collection of folk tunes I enjoy. If you would like to hear something different, just tell her. I won’t be long.”

With that he left, and I walked over to the pile of bins with “The Leader of the Band” playing softly in the background.

The bins were stacked two high and six across. The first one was too heavy for me to lift down, but the second one was lighter. I pulled it off the other and removed the lid. I sneezed. The bin was filled with clothes, and someone had added pepper to it to keep the bugs out. I reached inside and removed women’s clothes in a size much smaller than what I wore. These must’ve been the garments my mother left behind. Who had folded them so carefully? Halfway to the bottom, I found a child’s clothes. Mine? Most likely. Most likely, these could go to the local thrift store. At the bottom of the bin, I found a knitted baby bonnet, sweater, and booties. These I would keep. Setting them aside, I refilled the bin.

That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales