He was meandering through the city’s lanes when he came across it.
It was the name of the shop that first caught his attention. Despite being called ‘Treasure Trove’, the window display seemed to be made up of single, everyday objects. There was a pencil, a comb, a golf tee, a teaspoon, a marble, and so on. In fact, several dozen objects were laid out randomly like this, on what appeared to be an old bath towel. Each thing had a tiny price tag beside it, much too small to read. On entering, he realised that the shop itself was bare of anything, other than the items he’d seen in the window. A man sat reading a newspaper behind a small counter. After a brief smile he went back to his reading. Wandering over to the assortment of objects, he picked up the tee. The tag beside it looked as though it had been priced at 950 dollars!
Consumed with curiosity, he took it to the counter. He started to say, “Excuse me but…”
The owner held up a finger, put his paper down and said, “Yes? How can I help you, today?”.
Placing the tee on the counter, he said, “I see this has been marked up at 950 dollars.”
“Yes?”
“Well, you can buy a packet of these for just a few dollars.”
The shop owner chuckled and said, “We get this a lot!” He then cleared his throat and went on with a more serious tone. “I’m sure you’re right.” He pointed at the tee. “This however, is something else.”
He picked it up, lovingly.
“Ah! Yes, but this item is quite unique.”
“Is it, really?”
The other nodded. “This little beauty is the golf tee used by David Toms during the 2001 PGA Championship, when he made the best hole-in-one shot of all time.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
He stood thinking for a moment. He had a friend who played golf. He said, “Well, that’s amazing… I’ll take it.”
The owner said, “Of course; shall I wrap it?”
The man nodded as he opened his cheque book.
The other tore off a piece of his newspaper, wrapped it and applied a piece of sticky tape.
With the sale completed, the owner said, “If you are at all interested, I happened to come across another little treasure recently. You may also be interested in this. He took a small box from beneath the counter. Removing the lid and dropping his voice, , he said, “This is the handkerchief used by Sir Laurence Olivier to mop his brow after getting out of his suit of armour, having just delivered the St Crispin’s Day speech, during the filming of Shakespeare’s Henry V.”
“Wow!”
“Yes. Wow indeed. It has been laundered, of course.”
“Well, I must say, that would make it amazingly unique.”
“Yes, unique, as you say, but this particular item would set you back at least five times what you have already paid, I’m afraid.”
The other grunted. “I think I should be happy with my new treasure, for now.” He patted his pocket. “But, thank you anyway.” With a shake of the hand, he left the shop.
Making his way back to the main road with a firm grip around the purchased bargain in his pocket, he smiled.
He could hardly wait to show it to his friend…