While shopping at the universal department store
I picked up a set of No’s.
They were heavy and slippery in my hands.
I held tight so as to not drop them.
The price tag read: “Everything”
So I wandered around the universal department store for a while
With my No’s clutched in my hand
Wondering if I dared purchase something so formidable.
Other people saw me with my No’s as I passed by
Some gasped out loud.
Some avoided me completely.
Some, like Harley Davidson riders sharing mutual respect,
Gave me thumbs up and went on their way.
Everywhere I looked in the Universal Department store,
There were Yes’s for sale.
Some came with significant price tags.
Some were as affordable as a smile and nothing more.
Some were shiny and made me yearn for them.
Some were dirty, old, and disgusting.
And still I held on to my No’s.
At the cash register, I set them down on the Universal conveyor belt.
The gum-chewing register Demon peered at me,
With eyes that scanned me like the items she rang through.
“You think you can buy those?” She asked, her voice like nails down a chalkboard.
“Yes.” I said.
Instantly, a bright sphere of light rang through in front of the No’s.
It was a Yes…a beautiful blue and gold one. A Yes I had made.
“I don’t think you can afford these.” She hefted the No’s up effortlessly. Instead of sliding from her grip, they held fast together. “Why don’t you go to the back there, where there are some Maybe’s that would better suit you.”
“No.” I said firmly. There was a POP like a firework, and a No vanished from her grip.
Her plastic fingernails closed around the remaining ones like a vise.
“You don’t really think you have the ability to make these stick, do you? Come on…look at you. You should just give up.”
“No.” I said again, calmly and with conviction. Another POP and a No disappeared again to alight next to the other on the conveyor belt. Her eyes blazed red fire and she chewed her gum angrily.
The Universal Department store register Demon gripped the microphone and called her manager.
I stood, feet planted evenly apart, looking at the shining, blue cobalt Yes on the conveyor belt. My two No’s were placed next to it, and they gave me a thumbs up like the Harley Davidson drivers. I smiled and turned back to her, ready for anything.
“I’m sorry, but I really can’t permit you to do this.” The Manager appeared, his beak-nosed face was pinched in barely concealed fury and his claw like fingers wrapped around my arm. He began pushing me towards the door, away from the No’s and the Yes I had worked so hard to get. “Store policies are in place to prevent people like you from taking things that don’t belong to you. I’m very sorry, but you will have to give up the No’s and go away.”
In the background, the Universal Department Store register Demon smiled viciously. Her teeth were sharp as razors. The Manager’s grip on my arm tightened.
“Don’t fight me. I am too powerful.” He growled, his voice dripping with the rotten, stale corpses of other people’s stolen Power.
I planted my feet on the floor and stopped.
From somewhere above me, the watery classical music came to a scratching halt.
I smiled at him.
He stared at me in surprise.
I opened my mouth and spoke.
“My No is Mine. You cannot take away what is already inside me.
You can try to intimidate, threaten, lie, and even harm me, but you cannot take away what is mine.
My Yes is my passion.
My No is my power.
My Will is my strength.
My Truth is my shield.
I say YES! to Life.
And NO! to lies.”
The Universal Department store manager let go, his fingers smoking from the burn of my words.
I gathered up my Yes’s and my No’s and walked out into the sun.
I got on my Harley Davidson and drove away laughing.
~~~~
ASD
2/22/06