Unwanted

  Unwanted

Barbara Knight walked through the small town of Callahan Corners and could feel the eyes following her. She was a very attractive woman, a thirty something beauty with dark hair, blue eyes, tall, with a great figure and pleasing face.  

She was also a movie star. She was a child actress and had been lucky enough to be in the cast of the immensely popular Stars of Venus, a sci-fi show that had a huge, international following. The entire planet watch the young little cutie grow up right before their eyes.

She stopped acting for a couple of years and concentrated on her studies. After college, she landed a role in Cosmic Cousins, a hilarious comedy that was first aired on TV and then made into a movie franchise. Many of her fans remembered Knight from the previous series and a whole new generation discovered the talented female.

Knight walked away from Hollywood and acting and was worth a quarter of a billion dollars. She had the wealth and the means to live anywhere in the world.

Barbara walked down main street and everyone stood still.

They gawked and stared and made the poor woman feel very uncomfortable.  

But she didn’t care.

Eventually, she walked into the post office.

Martina Ogley was the supervisor of the small post office staff and stood at the counter defiantly. 

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, my name is Barbara Knight and-

“Barbara Knight the actress?”

“Yes, that is me.”

“What can we do for you Barbara Knight the actress?”

“I am thinking of moving here and-

“You don’t want to do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because you wouldn’t fit in.”

“I beg to differ. I am sure that I would blend-

“No, you would not blend in. These folks are simple, plain and wouldn’t want a movie star living next to them because it would make them feel ordinary, maybe even inferior.”

“Oh, I see. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“Yes, so sorry, but that’s the way the page turns sometimes.”

“I guess so.”

But something bugged Barbara. She was walking away and then turned around.

“You realize that I could infuse a ton of cash into the local economy?”

“Well, I guess you could.”

“I don’t see a lot of industry around here. How do you people survive financially?”

“Oh, everyone works in the nearby city. This is a bedroom community.”

“Oh, okay.”

It was a pleasant little town. There were a handful of nice parks, clean, pristine and sweet. There were park benches along the main street and lovely trees that provided much needed shade. There was a lot of pride taken in the decoration of the houses and the landscaping.

The businesses were all organized. There were none that were boarded up or with broken windows or non-working neon lights. They were painted brightly coloured and festive looking all year around.

“If this was a bedroom community then were are all the cars?”

Barbara had noticed that there weren’t any cars going up and down the streets and none were parked outside the houses.

“That is really weird.”

She went into a little cafe to have a bite to eat. Doris the waitress was cleaning up and looked up.

“I’m sorry lunch is over.”

Barbara looked at the clock and smiled.  

“But it is a little past one o’clock.”

“That’s right, lunch is finished at one.”

“Okay, can I have a menu?”

“You can, but you’re going to stare at it for a long, long time.”

“What do you mean?”

“We don’t serve food until five o’clock.”

“I have to wait four hours to get a bite to eat?”

“Well, technically, it is only three hours and fifty-six minutes.”

“Great.”

“Hey, aren’t you that actress?”

“I am.”

“Sure, I remember you.”

“If I sign an autograph for you would I get some lunch?”

“Sorry, can’t help you there. The cook is gone until five and I don’t cook. I’m just the waitress/bus girl/cashier.”

“Okay.”

“So what are you doing in these parts?”

“I am looking for a nice, quiet town to settle in to pursue my interests of photography, art and fitness.”

“Oh, I see.”

“I could bring a lot of money into this town. What are the real estate prices around here?”

“They are non-existent.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nobody ever moves out or in for that matter.”

“How come?”

“Because Callahan Corners is the best place to live in on the whole planet. Nobody wants to leave and we really don’t like anyone moving in. It upsets the balance we have here in town.”

“The balance?”

“Sure, the balance of the people that live here. You see you have an equal number of men and women, adults and children, blondes, brunettes and redheads, old and young and anything else you can think of. If you were to show up then we would have too many brunettes.”

“So what would happen then?”

“We would have to get rid of a brunette. But right now we are very fond of all the brunettes. So that isn’t going to happen.”

“This is a strange town.”

“It has its quirks.”

“I have noticed that there are hardly any cars. There are none in the driveways and there are no real parking lots.”

“Yeah, we don’t like cars and we don’t really need them.”

“But, I was told this is a bedroom community.”

“Sure, everyone has a bedroom. Some of the houses have several.”

“That isn’t what I meant. I mean everyone or at least a lot of people have jobs in the nearby city.”

“Oh, okay, if you say so.”

Barbara looked at her confused.

“I get the feeling that nobody wants me around.”

Doris smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

“Don’t take it personally. We just don’t cater to strangers very well here in Callahan Corners.”

“If I lived here then I wouldn’t be a stranger.”

“Sure you would be. You weren’t born here and haven’t lived in the town for like forty years. Heck, the last person that moved in was back somewhere in the 1970s. I am pretty sure it was Cedric. I was just a little girl back then.”

“You’re telling me in over forty years nobody has moved into this town or moved out?”

“Yup, that’s pretty much what I am telling you.”

“You need to make a Hollywood story about this.”

Doris backed up and looked scared.

“There will be no Hollywood story made here. The town council would not let it happen.”

“What if we offered them lots and lots of money?”

“Money isn’t everything. We don’t need any money here. We like our peace and quiet. There is no way they would give in to that because the town folk wouldn’t let it happen.”

“I think I can convince them.”

Barbara left and Doris made a phone call.

The former movie star went to the mayor’s office.

The mayor was Jackie Pearson. An attractive lady, she had the same look as the others. Like she was privy to a giant secret that she wasn’t going to share with anyone especially an outsider.

“Hello, my name is Barbara Knight and I am an actress-

“I know who you are.”

“That’s great. I would love to make a movie here-

“No, we don’t want a bunch of strangers in our cozy, little town.”

“But, I can offer you a lot of money. The local economy doesn’t seem to be very prosperous.”

“Money is something we don’t really care about here in Callahan Corners. We grow our own crops, make our own clothes and everything else we need. We have merchants that sell this stuff.”

“But if the town folk don’t have a job or any money how are they supposed to buy this stuff?”

“They barter and trade. They will clean the eaves throughs or cut grass for a couple of weeks. There is a balance between the people that live here and it is very delicate. I am only here to make sure everyone plays nice.”

“This is the strangest town in the whole world.”

Barbara walked out and left. 

The town folk watched her leave and there was a twinge of guilt.

Doris shook her head. “You know, she was a very nice person in some ways.”

“She was, but she wouldn’t have fit in.”

“No, she wouldn’t have fit in. Oh well, she’ll find another spot to settle in.”

“They always do,” agreed Jackie.

“Yup, they always do.”

They went back to their proper business.