Leap Of Faith

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Chapter 1

Frank walked out of the factory feeling like the biggest failure that ever existed. He had a wife to care for, his first grandchild on the way, and now a pink slip that was certain to derail many of his plans. Luckily, his wife was frugal to the point of making it a full-time career. That, married with their sizable nest egg from his parents, would mean that they wouldn’t be packing for the poorhouse right away. Of course, he would need to have a plan, and quickly. If he didn’t formulate one before he got home, Agnes would be sure to dictate one.

She wasn’t the epitome of a nagging wife that you see in sitcoms that overemphasize undesirable traits. Agnes just knew what was best for him and would eventually wear him down until he knew it too. So, for just a moment, he was going to stop at the diner on the corner, grab a paper, and contemplate all the potential the world might hold for an unemployed machinist. He had given two decades to that place, only to be tossed aside and dismissed by a kid that couldn’t be more than two years out of college.

In a fog, he entered the diner and nearly ran over one of his best friends, Felix.

“Hey, old man,” Felix muttered as he put a hand in the middle of Frank’s chest. “Why the frown? And what are you doing in my diner at eleven in the morning?”

“Hiding from my wife and the inevitable planning session she is going to immediately demand,” Frank said, knowing that Felix, of all people, would understand.

“Agnes does like to organize parties, people, or you.” Felix chuckled to himself as if he had just made a joke worthy of inclusion in a stand-up routine.

While Frank was normally on board with Felix’s brand of humor, this morning he was a bit out of sorts and just needed to be alone with his thoughts. Of course, he did slap himself mentally, realizing that walking into the diner run by his decade long best friend probably wouldn’t accomplish that end goal. It was like autopilot, and his feet had gone the direction they had so many times before. When things decided to head downhill, he knew where to go every time. He and Felix had become buddies in an unconventional way when Felix’s dad and Frank served in the military together. Felix’s dad didn’t come home, and Frank did, so he took Felix under his wing in those earlier years. Since then, as both matured, they had married that history into a shared friendship, despite a twenty-year age gap.

“So, want to talk about it?” Felix asked as he put Frank’s favorite pecan roll in front of him alongside a large cup of coffee and a carafe to keep him filled up for a while.

“The cuts at the factory just took my job out of the equation,” he said, looking completely dejected. “Honestly, I have no idea what I’m going to do.”

“Maybe start that business that you and Agnes have talked about for years. You know she wants a salon, or you’ve also talked about something in construction as you are the original MacGyver. Nothing a chunk of bubblegum and duct tape can’t fix in your hands.”

“Those were the dreams of a younger man, though,” Frank said. “I appreciate that you and Susan made good on opening this diner. I just don’t know that Agnes and I would want to take that kind of risk at our age. You know that Rick and Abigail are expecting. I want to provide some future legacy for my grandson. A good steady job is what I need to find,” he emphasized by tapping the newspaper he had picked up just inside the front door.

“Good luck. Oh, and let me know when you head out to tell Agnes. You know my Susan will be the first to find out, and she will be sure to give me an earful,” he said, rolling his eyes dramatically.

Susan and Agnes were just like Felix and himself, thick as thieves. They were each other’s confidantes, babysitters, and all-around support system. He hated that they would worry about him, as he was the steady one in the group. He went to work, came home, did lawn work, and spent time fishing. The most boring, yet reliable man seemed to be what Agnes liked about him all these years.

Opening the newspaper, he started scanning the classifieds when another story on the opposing page caught his eye.

Derelict Mining Town and Land Up for Raffle

He found himself consuming the story like a dehydrated man in a desert. This was fascinating, and he couldn’t’t get enough. As a man that regularly re-watched every movie made by John Wayne, he was a Western connoisseur. He and Agnes had long considered a trip out west, and with work, kids, and church obligations, this never became a reality.

He chuckled to himself; maybe it was time to take that trip. He did now have some unanticipated time off from work.

The story keeps going.

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