Solomon by Jason Brown

14 March 2022 { Fantasy }

Solomon

Solomon was dreaming about a shopping trip but woke up suddenly as he felt himself being picked up and thrown onto a hard surface. He was trying to work out what was going on; there was the hum of machinery and he felt himself moving sideways. Any dim light in the box he was trapped in went out as he was picked up again and thrown into a container. The container was locked and he was moved again

‘What’s going on?’ he shouted, ‘where are you taking me?

There was no reply, and he heard an engine start up, then he felt movement. He thought that he might be in a van and was scared. The journey seemed to take forever, and when it stopped, he was taken out of the van, and from the container used to transport him. In the dim light, he could only sense rather than see that he was on a conveyor belt. He must have reached the end of it because rough hands grabbed him and threw him into a large sack.

‘That’s the lot for tonight, Harry; they’ll be picked up in the morning,’ he heard someone shout. The lights went out and he heard a door being closed and locked.

Solomon had no idea what was going on, and he imagined he may have been kidnapped. ‘Who could want to?’ all went very quiet, confirming what the voice had said. It was likely that nothing was going to happen until the morning, so he settled down and tried to sleep.

The next morning Solomon heard the door being opened and footsteps approaching. He was lifted out of the sack and carried outside where a fleet of vans stood in a line. He was loaded into one of them, along with many parcels, and after a short time, it began to move off.

After a short journey, the van pulled up at what must have been a house and he was carried a few steps further. He heard a ‘rat-tat’ and a man answered the door.

‘Parcel for Mrs. Wilson,’ the one carrying Solomon said.

‘I’ll sign for that,’ the man replied.

Solomon was carried inside by the man, who shouted ‘Looks like your new shopping trolley’s here.’

He was joined by a woman and, whilst they unwrapped him together, Solomon knew that they were talking about him.

‘You got the large square one then?’ the man asked.

The woman replied ‘Yes, they hold more than those little ones, I think I’ll call him Tommy the trolley.’

Solomon groaned and thought, ‘If only people could hear us speak, I could tell her my real name.

She was purring, ‘Oh, I do like his tartan cover.’

This made Solomon feel proud, as he thought, ‘I bet she can’t wait to show me off to her friends and neighbors.

The man smiled at her, thinking ‘I can’t believe how excited someone can get over a shopping trolley.’

Mrs. Wilson pushed Solomon around the house, before taking him to the front porch.

‘This is your new home, Tommy. Goodnight. We’ll go shopping in the morning.’

‘Did I imagine it?’ he thought, or did she just say, ‘Goodnight?

It was morning when Mrs. Wilson opened the porch door.

‘Good morning, Tommy. Time for your first shop.’ She said, checking her purse for her keys, money, bus pass, and shopping list.

The front door opened and Solomon was pushed by his handles out of the front garden, onto the road.

He heard her say ‘Oh, this is nice.’

Once outside, he realised that Mrs. Wilson was struggling to control his wheels. He guessed that instead of going directly to the bus stop, she was pushing him up and down the road. Probably a test run he thought, to get used to me. The real reason for the walk was to show off her new purchase, particularly to that Mrs. Jenkins who lived across the road.

Mr. Wilson watched from the front window with amusement. ‘Reminds me of the first time she took baby Alfred out in his pram,’ he thought.

Mrs. Wilson got to the bus stop, where there were a couple of people waiting, but no one gave so much as a glance at her pride and joy. She bent down and Solomon heard her say to him, ‘This will be your first shop, Tommy, I hope you enjoy it.’

Two boys at the front of the queue heard this, grinned at each other, and sniggered.

The bus arrived and, with a hiss, the bus tilted so Mrs. Wilson could get on more easily with Solomon. Her luck was in, as the front seat reserved for the elderly had only one occupant, Mrs. Jenkins.

Mrs. Wilson sat down next to her; Solomon knew that there would be a comment, and he was right.

Mrs. Wilson said, ‘This is Tommy, my new trolley.’

Mrs Jenkins just grunted.

They arrived at the supermarket and got off the bus. Mrs. Wilson picked up a supermarket trolley; and had to pull Solomon behind her. She was not used to this and banged into a couple of people at first.

She managed to get around OK and after she paid at the checkout, she loaded her purchases into Solomon. As she was about to leave, she saw another one of her neighbour’s in the café. Seeing another opportunity to show off, she went in, bought a coffee for herself, and went to join her neighbour. Solomon noticed a pink trolley at the table, a lot older than himself. Mrs. Wilson managed to sit down with difficulty and explained that she had a new trolley called Tommy, and she was still getting used to it.

‘Very nice Ada’ said the lady.

Solomon now knew Mrs. Wilson’s first name was Ada.

He looked at the pink trolley, and asked, ‘Hi, are you OK? My name’s Solomon, but my owner insists on calling me, Tommy.’

‘Hi Solomon, my name’s Susan, and I know what you mean; mine insists on calling me Dolly the Trolly.’

‘Funny creatures these humans; they can’t hear us, so how do they know how we feel?’ said Solomon. ‘Is it nice where you live?’

‘Yes, it’s good. She is quite a nice lady, but at weekends, her grandkids come to visit, and they think I’m a toy to be played with. They chase me around the garden pushing and pulling me, sometimes with the toddler sitting in me. They nearly broke me last week.’

Solomon realised how lucky he was, and said goodbye to Susan, as the humans were preparing to go home.

Solomon was quite full and difficult to move. He was pushed onto the bus by the puffing and grunting Ada. They got to the front seat and the bus moved off quickly; so quickly, that Solomon started to slide backward.

‘Whoa, put my brake on,’ shouted Tommy.

A fellow passenger managed to stop him and showed Ada how to use the brake. Solomon thought she should have read the instructions.

They managed to get home without further incident, and after being unloaded, Solomon was put back into the porch. He heaved a huge sigh of relief, and thought if she didn’t know about the brake, how will she know about greasing my axles?

A Trip to the Park.

It was late morning, and Solomon was feeling very warm. It’s Ok to be in a safe dry place he thought, but having to spend the summer months in a glass-sided porch, filled him with dread. You would think that sensible humans would realise that.

Ada Wilson came into the porch. ‘Wow it’s warm in here Tommy,’ she said as she deposited thought, but having to spend the summer months in a glass-sided porch, filled him with dread. You would think that sensible humans would realise that.

Ada Wilson came into the porch. ‘Wow it’s warm in here Tommy,’ she said as she deposited a leather bag into the trolley.

That’s unusual he thought, we are not going shopping today.

Ada started to wheel him away, when Mr. Wilson shouted, ‘It looks as though it might rain later Ada, take a coat and a brolly with you.’

Solomon saw that they had passed the bus stop and entered an open area of some kind.

Ada was greeted by another lady who said, ‘Hello Ada, how are you and Arthur keeping?’

‘We are both fine, thanks. Shall we go in?’

Leaving Solomon outside, they went inside a hut to join other ladies. ‘Well I know now that Mr. Wilson is called Arthur,’ Solomon mused. He could just make out a sign on the hut which read, ‘Darnton Bowls Club’.

He watched as the ladies came out of the hut and Ada retrieved her leather bag from Solomon, before walking onto a large lawn. Solomon watched as Ada shook hands with another lady, who rolled a small white ball across the green area and followed it with a larger black ball. Ada then sent a black ball across which was greeted by a shout of ‘Good Wood Ada!’ from somebody across the other side. It was now the turn of the other lady and after she had rolled, the voice shouted, ‘Come again Ada love.’ Ada rolled another ball and the two ladies walked across the green area, when they reached the balls, they both looked down at them, had a brief conversation, then Ada raised two hands in the air.

‘Good two,’ said the mystery voice.

‘Unlucky, Gladys.’ said another voice.

The process was repeated but this time, Gladys raised one arm in the air whilst a crestfallen Ada picked up one of the black balls, to wait her turn. They were playing some kind of game, thought Solomon, who couldn’t understand what the fuss was all about. He started to nod off but was awoken by a lot of shouting, and all the Ladies running off the green area, and into the hut.

Solomon realised that it was raining, but more importantly, his top was open, and the rain was getting heavier. He was feeling a bit damp and could hear sounds of laughter drifting out from the hut. ‘Oh, that’s nice!’ he thought. ‘They’re all drinking tea or something, whilst I’m out here getting soaking wet.’

He was feeling miserable, when he heard some shouts and laughter, from young voices.

A Trip to the Park.

Ada Wilson came into the porch. ‘Wow it’s warm in here Tommy,’ she said as she deposited a leather bag into the trolley.

That’s unusual he thought, we are not going shopping today.

Ada started to wheel him away, when Mr. Wilson shouted, ‘It looks as though it might rain later Ada, take a coat and a brolly with you.’

Solomon saw that they had passed the bus stop and entered an open area of some kind.

Ada was greeted by another lady who said, ‘Hello Ada, how are you and Arthur keeping?’

‘We are both fine, thanks. Shall we go in?’

‘Good two,’ said the mystery voice.

‘Unlucky, Gladys.’ said another voice.

He was feeling miserable, when he heard some shouts and laughter, from young voices. Suddenly he was jerked out of his slumber, and he was being pushed along at high speed.

‘What’s happening?’ he shouted but got no answer.

He was stopped and he felt a small body climb in and put the cover down. Off they went again laughing and screaming; pushing Solomon from side to side. He was really scared now.

The trolley stopped and his passenger got out.

‘Hey, what do you think you’re doing?’ he heard Ada shout. ‘Come back here with my Tommy.’ The young boys just laughed and started moving again, faster than ever. Solomon could see the boating pond straight ahead and realised what was going to happen.

‘Oh no!’ he screamed. ‘Help me please!’

The next few moments passed in a blur and he was dumped into the pond, while the boys ran off laughing.

Ada arrived and shouted for help.

‘I can’t reach Tommy,’ she sobbed.

Her lady companions helped to get Solomon onto dry land and all surveyed the damage. Ada carefully got Solomon upright and tried to push him back home. Solomon couldn’t move.

I’ve broken my axle thought Solomon. One of the ladies offered to give them a lift home in her estate car. When they arrived, Ada rushed into the house to tell Arthur what had happened.

‘Let’s have a look’, he said ‘Ah, looks like a broken axle, let’s carry him into my Garage/workshop so I can decide what to do.

‘Tommy will have to stay in here tonight while I think what I can do to repair him, it looks a bad one to me,’ he said, shaking his head.

Solomon spent an uncomfortable night, surrounded by smelly paint pots and tools. It was morning when Arthur opened the garage doors and switched on the lights, before looking at Solomon, closely followed by Ada.

‘Hmm, looks a bit nasty, not sure if I’ll be able to do a lot. I’ll just have to try my best

Solomon didn’t like what he was hearing, even less so when Arthur; lit up a blow torch, and moved towards his front axle.

‘It’s not broken, but badly twisted, if this was a human being it would need an anaesthetic, but here goes. ‘He applied the flame to the affected area and kept it there until the axle was glowing red.

Solomon‘s screams went unheard, as grasping a pair of tongs, Arthur tried to manoeuvre the limb back into shape. It soon became obvious that it was not going to be a success, and the joint would remain weakened and unable to function properly. He turned off the torch and turned to tell Ada the news.

Solomon was sweating and feared he was about to hear bad news.

Ada felt tears burn her eyes, and asked, ‘what can we do now?’

‘I’m afraid it’s a new trolley, and Tommy is destined for the corporation tip.’

Solomon was shocked and couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.

It pained Arthur to see his wife sobbing uncontrollably, and he hugged her. He vowed to have a chat with some friends of his for ideas. The next shopping trip saw Ada trolley- less, and carrying two shopping bags. Solomon was left in the porch, and imagined Mrs. Jenkins would be smirking and asking questions about his absence. He soon realised, he could be right because Ada looking embarrassed was quickly back home with her two bags half full. He heard her mutter, ‘I’ll not shop again until somethings sorted.’

Sunday morning and all was quiet in the house. This was because no one was speaking. Ada was sulking because she felt that although her husband had tried, he was resigned to taking Tommy to the tip. He was left alone with his thoughts and remembered the blowtorch, the very idea of it made him sweat.

Arthur was getting a bit frustrated with Ada’s silence and as it was Sunday, he decided to keep to his normal routine. He put his coat on and gave Ada a peck on the cheek and said ‘I’ll see you later love, I’m off to the club, I’ll take Tommy along to show the damage.’

Walking very slowly, Arthur pushed Solomon to the park where there was a bowls match in progress, and after watching for a while, they both went into the Working Men’s Club.

There Arthur could enjoy a couple of drinks and put the world to rights with his usual companions. Solomon heard him telling the story about Tommy. Solomon listened very intently as one of Arthurs friends, Harry suggested that the only solution was to take Tommy to the tip and order a new one. Charlie however took a different view.

‘Why don’t you google the supplier and see if they carry spare parts?’

Solomon liked that.

That’s a good idea, thought Arthur and vowed to try that when he got home. Solomon liked the little walkout, even though it was a bit painful. When they got home, Solomon watched as Arthur sat through a silent dinner with Ada. Afterward, he looked on with interest as Arthur opened his laptop, and found that he could send for a new axle complete with wheels and fittings. From the look on Arthurs’s face, Solomon guessed that it was good news. Fortunately, the parcel was delivered whilst Ada was out at her ladies’ bowls match.

Solomon was curious as he watched Arthur rip away the packaging to reveal a brand-new set of wheels for him.

‘C’mon Tommy, let’s have a go at getting you right.’ He took Solomon to his workshop and started sorting out the required tools.

Solomon looked on anxiously, fearing the worst.

Arthur said, ‘don’t worry Tommy this will be quick and painless.’ He took off the old axle and replaced it with the new part. ‘Success’

Back in the house, Solomon was pushed under the dining room table, to surprise Ada. Solomon was quite excited to be reprieved.

Ada returned home and Solomon listened as Arthur asked Ada how she had gone on at bowls,

‘Lost’ grunted Ada.

‘Have a look under the dining table,’ he said.

‘This is no time to play silly games, I’m going for a shower and getting changed,’

Solomon thought, ‘This is not going well.’

Deflated, Arthur sat down and switched on the TV set.

Ada came downstairs and went into the dining room. There was a loud shriek, and she came dashing in wheeling Solomon.

‘Oh, thank you! Thank you! she screamed. ‘Shopping tomorrow.’

Amazing how a shopping trolley could generate so much happiness.

In the supermarket the next morning Solomon was as pleased as Ada to be shopping again. He hoped they would visit the café again. They did and while Ada told her friend how her Arthur could fix anything, Solomon said hello to Susan

‘Can you hear Ada? small things amuse small minds.’

‘Not seen you for a while,’ said Susan.

Solomon explained about his axle injury but said he was now fighting fit and was looking forward to seeing her again.

The following weekend, a funfair was set up in the park, and after shopping, Ada met Arthur to enjoy the fireworks, which were let off after dark. The three of them stood watching the fireworks and heard the sounds of rockets and bangers going off; as well as the noises from the funfair dodgems and roundabouts. It was so noisy and interesting that when a sneak thief crept up and grabbed Solomon, nobody noticed. Solomon shouted and screamed for help but nobody heard as he was pushed away from the fair by this stranger. Solomon felt helpless, and the thief made sure he was out of sight before stealing the shopping and throwing him into the canal.

Solomon sank slowly to the bottom of the canal before settling with all the other junk which had been thrown in over the years. The canal was no longer used and the water was dark, muddy, and smelly.

The fireworks had finished before Ada noticed that Tommy was missing. She was devastated, but even though they searched high and low, there was no sign of Tommy. She asked everyone she saw, but nobody had seen anything of what had happened.

Ada was heartbroken but eventually came to terms with the fact that her Tommy was gone and reluctantly decided to order a new trolley.

Solomon lay under the water in the canal and wondered what had happened. He thought maybe Ada and Arthur might find him, but that was unlikely. I might as well have gone to the real tip, Solomon thought. He realised that this was how it all ended for him and just lay there.

Solomon was in limbo, just lying in slimy water, and surrounded by junk. He heard voices and there was a commotion on the canal bank. The water level began to fall, and soon he could see a man holding a draining pipe that was pumping the water into a tank on a truck.

Three other men were watching him, and when the water level had dropped to very low, one of the three told the pumper to stop. The pipe was pulled back into the side of a wagon. The four men jumped into the cabin of the truck and it drove away.

‘What was that all about?’ thought Solomon, and settled back down to sleep. He was soon awake when a lorry drove up; with a ‘Darnton Rubbish Collection’ sign on its side.

A man with ’Bob’ embroidered on his cap got out of the lorry and began looking at the newly drained canal. Solomon saw the man take his cap off and scratch his head. He thought I bet he’s thinking that he will need some help with the large soggy items.

Sure enough, Bob started loading some small things onto the lorry.

Solomon felt lifted and moved towards the lorry.

He groaned, ‘There’s no escape. I’m bound for the tip.’

Instead of throwing him on, Bob thought, ‘This trolley looks fairly new, I’ll take it home and clean it.’

Solomon was excited and felt himself being placed on a seat in the cab of the lorry.

Later, he was carried into a house, where a woman shrieked, ‘Ugh, that’s disgusting, get it out!’

Outside, Solomon was hosed down, cleaned, and dried, by Bob; and then taken back into the house.

‘I don’t want that, I’m not old enough. Take it to your mother.’

Bob agreed and set off to his mother’s house, pushing Solomon in front of him.

‘Hi Mam, I’ve got a present for you;’ His mother eyed Solomon with suspicion.

‘Put it in the kitchen,’ she instructed.

There Solomon stayed and went on just one shopping trip, which only yielded a few items. He was a bit frustrated because his new owner had difficulty walking, and was unwell.

While resting in the kitchen, Solomon heard voices from the other room, and picked up the words ‘care home’. He was on his own again in the lonely kitchen for a week.

Bob arrived and started loading ornaments and bric-a=brac into Solomon’s main pouch, and then without a word, he pushed him out onto the street and began the walk into town. They arrived at a shop and went inside, and after a brief conversation, Bob went out leaving him inside.

He found himself at the rear of the shop, wedged in between an umbrella stand and a chest of drawers. Solomon spoke to the chest but got no reply.

‘Don’t mind him, he’s just grumpy, ‘said the stand.

‘What is this place? ‘asked Solomon.

‘It’s a charity shop, where people donate things they no longer need, so other people can buy them and help the charity,’ explained the stand. ‘The only problem is if nobody buys you in three weeks, you get taken to the tip.’

Solomon thought, ‘Oh no, here we go again. I’m being haunted by the tip.’ Just then he heard a familiar voice from over near the bookshelves.

‘What exactly are looking for Ada? Hey, look over here at who I’ve found.’

That sounds like Arthur, Solomon thought, his hopes rising.

‘Oh, my word, it’s Tommy.’

‘That’s Ada!’ Solomon tried to see over the stand.

The label attached to Solomon’s handle said SOLD. Ada went to the counter and asked who had bought her Tommy. She was told that the shop manager had paid £5, for him. Ada pleaded with the manager, and told the story of what had happened to Tommy, and said that I must have him back.,

Arthur volunteered to pay £15, and the manager agreed, saying’ Well, it is a charity shop after all.’

Solomon felt himself being pushed out of the charity shop, and within an hour he was seated in the front porch of the Wilson household.

After his adventure at the funfair and being thrown into the canal, Solomon settled back into life with Ada and Arthur. He woke up very early one morning and was pushed into the living room by Ada, who started to load him up with clothes and toiletries. I wonder what’s happening he thought?

He could feel a bit of tension in the house and Ada shouted to Arthur, ‘Make sure you’ve got the tickets, the taxi will be here soon.’

‘Don’t worry, have you packed the sandwiches for the journey?’

‘Yes, they’re in a separate bag we can take on the coach.’

‘OK, here’s the taxi.’

The three of them left the house and whilst Arthur was locking up, the taxi driver loaded Solomon into the boot.

‘Where are you off to?’ he asked.

‘We’re going on a National Holiday’s long weekend to the south coast.’

‘Hope you get nice weather.’

The taxi arrived at the coach station where people were hanging around chatting and checking their watches. Solomon spotted Susan and caught her eye.

‘Not seen you for a bit, are you going on the coach trip?’

‘Yes, for the long weekend.’

‘Oh good, we’ll see a lot of each other.’

The passengers boarded the coach while the driver loaded the luggage in the hold including Susan and Solomon. When the door closed, they couldn’t see each other even though they were sitting together.

‘Hope it’s not a long journey, ’said Solomon.

‘I’ve been before and it’s a few hours.’

‘Oh No.’

The coach set off and after what seemed an age, it pulled up and the driver opened the luggage compartment and some of the passengers took small bags out, leaving the larger items including the two trolleys behind. Once again, the door closed and all went dark.

‘Have we arrived now?’ said Solomon.’

‘No, this is just a lunch and toilet stop. We’re only about halfway.’

‘Oh no,’ grumbled Solomon.

‘Will you two shut up? I’m trying to get some sleep!’ shouted a rather large and battered suitcase from somewhere near the front.

After a while, the coach set off again, and Solomon was bored.

Eventually, they arrived at their destination and all the passengers got off the coach and waited to collect their luggage.

‘Looks like a nice hotel and near to the sea.’ Solomon observed.

Ada and Arthur settled into their room and unpacked the clothes stored in Solomon and Ada hung them in a wardrobe. After a short while, the couple went out leaving Solomon in a corner with no view out of the window. He waited and waited and it was dark when they returned and they turned off the light and went to bed.

This is some holiday reflected Solomon, I wonder how Susan’s getting on?

The next morning and Arthur went down to breakfast excitedly discussing the day’s trip to some gardens. Looks like I’m on my own again thought Solomon. Sure enough, when they returned, it was time for a quick shower and then down to dinner.

Monday morning and Ada said she had a bit of shopping to do for the return journey. Taking Solomon, she went down in the lift and left the hotel to walk in the direction of the town.

Ah, fresh air and I can see the sea, thought Solomon, this is more like it. It didn’t last long though, shopping was done, and back to the hotel to pack for home.

The coach pulled up and the passengers got on. Susan and Solomon were back in the luggage compartment. The journey home was a repeat of the first day with a stop for toilet and lunch.

Susan and Solomon were bored and started to talk about everything, not bothering about Grumpy at the front.

‘What do you want to do when you grow up Susan?’ Solomon asked.

‘I rather think I’d like to get married.’

‘I think I’d like that as well,’ said Solomon boldly. ‘I think I’d like to marry you, Susan,’

‘I’d like that.’

‘Shall we pretend and promise to have a wedding?’

‘OK.’

‘Susan, will you be my wife?’

‘Of course, I will Solomon.’

Neither of them realised that all the luggage in the compartment was listening, including Grumpy.

Ada and the rest of the passengers were amazed to hear singing coming from below.

‘Congratulations’ the bags and cases were singing, making Susan blush.