Introduction

             The following stories are a combination of many things. Nostalgia, remembrances, folklore --- they each and every one hark back to events that happened in a long-ago and bygone era. There seems to be a trend toward that sort of thing today.

              People will tell you it’s human nature to look back and reflect on our lives as we grow older, but I think too it points out how folks aren’t satisfied and content with the world situation as it presently is. In a way they’re saying, “Either what tomorrow might offer, or what was yesterday, would be better than what we now have. I share this assessment and opinion.

              I call this book  Narrows and It’s Characters. Something similar to what I’m about to attempt could be written about the people in small towns dotting the landscape across our broad land. Narrows certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on the type folks you’ll be meeting throughout these pages--- they can be found anywhere, and everywhere.

             But these are the ones I know of and have heard about all my life. If you have nothing to do during the next few hours, kick off the old brogues, settle back in your reclining chair and meet them

             Before making these intro’s however, a few personal observations will be passed along.

             Although I’ve tinkered and dabbed in this writing scene for some 50 years, yet do I ask your indulgence, patience and forgiveness if these paragraphs you’re about to peruse come across somewhat amateurishly. That word, amateur, brings to mind it’s opposite, professional,

             Lately I’ve heard much about a complaint currently making the rounds among the professional writers who toil in the field of television and movie-script writing. The problem causing the woes seems to be universal among those who earn their living that is, for the most part, a world of make-believe.

            And just what is their common complaint? Well now, they’re saying  there’s no more material--- it’s all been used. New and innovative ideas are a thing of the past. It’s impossible to come up with anything original in penmanship. It’s a dog eat dog jungle out there!

            Now understand--- this is what the pro’s are sayin’. Well, I just don’t believe they’re right. But if you’re one of millions addicted to television and have recently viewed their offerings, or if you’re a  “movie buff” and have witnessed the stuff they’re turnin’ out these days, then maybe you’re inclined to agree with their evaluation---“there’s nothin’ left to write about”. In this instance, I agree totally and wholeheartedly.

              For the most part, today’s crop of writers seem to have two hang-ups---both of a truly glaring nature. Obviously the first is dag-dratted cars. Frankly, I find it amazing that Detroit is a city with high unemployment. That’s extremely hard to believe. One can easily get the impression that our two entertainment mediums listed above are Motor City’s best customers. Television and movie studios are bound to be purchasing 95% of the finished products rolling off Detroit’s assembly lines.

          I’ve eyed upwards to 70 cars smashed to smithereens in a single half-hour TV program. With no exerted effort whatsoever the movies out-do even that sterling achievement. On the wide screen in glorious color you can watch as cars are flattened by bulldozers, rendered unrecognizable after being ground to bits by monstrous railroad locomotives. Cars are blown into a million pieces by dynamite, smashed into trees and buildings, driven over and plunged down 300 foot cliffs, and of course a whole raft of cars meet their demise neath the wheels of those gigantic behemoths of the superslabs---eighteen-wheelers.

          Then of course, there is always this. Follow along, if you will, in this breath-taking tale of  high adventure

          The hero tops the mountain crest and heads downgrade. Ahead lies 7 miles of narrow, twisting and treacherous downhill road---with at least 25 curves of the horseshoe variety. Approaching the first, our indefatigable hero applies his foot to the brake pedal. Nothing happens, excepting his car gains even more speed and momentum. Somehow ( although no one knows how) he negotiates those curves and reaches the bottom of that mountain intact and all in one piece.

          His hair-raising ride had reached speeds nearing 245 miles per hour, and 12 miles of level road are needed for coasting purposes before that automobile can be rolled to a halt.

          The driver, though shaken and perspiring profusely, emerges unhurt. At that precise moment a pretty young thing materializes out of thin air and rushes up to inquire in a breathless sultry voice: “What on earth happened ?” In a trembling voice he looks straight into her “pools of blue” eyes and manages to answer: “Someone tampered with my brakes!”

           Sounds familiar, huh? This plot (with 1000 variations ) has been played out a million times on the silver screen.

          The second hang-up of modern-day writers is the situation comedy. Once upon a time, believe it or not, comedies were funny. This claim can no longer be substantiated. Now they’re ridiculous. I mean---how many laughs can be squeezed from a plot surrounding a waitress as she goes about her business serving hamburgers and french-fries to her hungry patrons?

          Perhaps by now you think I’ve gone completely astray from the theme, introduction. Well, not exactly. For it will be my intent to prove those professionals wrong in their mistaken assumptions there is little or nothing left to write about.

          You know, it’s just possible they seek in the wrong places. Maybe Hollywood and New York ain’t the only places where it’s happenin’. Funny thing about those two towns, and for added good measure let’s lump Washington D.C. right in the same category.

          These towns have long been hampered with the heady delusion that all the “interesting and newsworthy people” in our wide world can be found only within their corporate-limits! Well doggone it, this is to let them know such thinking taint necessarily so!

          Perhaps a high percentage of folks dwelling in those cities are living in a deluded state. Or closer home to truth--- a state of hallucination! The “in thing” to do and current rage in these tinsel towns are “coke parties”. Only this coke ya’ didn’t drink pal--- ya’ sniff it! That in itself could be a major and contributing factor in their difficulty finding suitable material to write about.

          The residents of these towns ( and I’ve met and come in close contact with many ) have their own pat descriptions of you and I---we who comprise Smalltown, America. You’ve heard them many times, but just for old times sake let’ re-hash the despicable things once more. Dullsville—Hicktown—Nowheresville—Back In The Sticks—Out In The Boondocks—Narz. Eh, what’s that you say? Oh, I see. You’ve been thru all that.

           Grassroots America is what they’re really describing. The real country, and it’s very real people. The folks who built this nation and made it what we see today. The people from the concrete and asphalt jungles have been in their artificial worlds for so long, the genuine thing is unrecognizable to them. If Smalltown is the real world, then it stands to reason that, unlike those Hollywood versions, all things do not end happily here.

          Life is filled with reversals, disappointment, setbacks, and yes---failure. Anyone who thinks this isn’t true---well, he too resides in that fantasy and never-never world.

           Those personal observations are now mostly disposed of, and in this book I am going to strive for simplicity. The first and foremost reason for that is to make these pages easily understandable to any and all persons whose eyes may scan them.

          My command of the English language will not be fostered onto you, mainly because it doesn’t exist. That command is definitely limited. I will stick with “ye plain olde English”. In other words, I will try for a “down to earth” style.

          An impressionable fashion is not the intent---the intent is to tell of a few events that happened in the lives of some former citizens of Narrows. So relax--- long-winded harangues and fiery oratory will not greet your eyes here.

          Character. What, when hearing that word, is the first thought that enters your mind? First thing entering mine is that certain quality an artistic and talented actor or actress render to a role they are portraying and make it “come alive”. I know of no better example of this than the late Will Geer, the silver-haired actor who starred as Grandpa Walton in the long-running TV series, The Waltons.

          When he stepped before the cameras, the old fella’ was no longer Will Geer, but was, to millions of his fans, Grandpa Walton. It takes a measurable amount of talent to pull that off. I can’t recall if he received any awards for his portrayal of that character, but he most certainly should have.

           Then of course there are the characteristics, personalities, traits and egos which go into the making of each individuals character. It takes no great amount of study to determine what kind of person these things have made us to be.

           But neither of these are what I have in mind. I will try to define “character” as it will be perceived throughout the following stories. A “character” is a person who in many, many ways differs from we non-characters. A word of advice---never confuse “characters” with eccentrics. Eccentrics are withdrawn people---loners, mostly prone to phobias and manias. “Characters” have none of these, the two are different as night and day.

          Characters approach life ( and the problems it poses ) in a seemingly unorthodox manner. But many times, upon closer examination and scrutiny, they are not so unorthodox as first they seemed. Each new day brings new complications, and “characters” solve snags and bumps from an entirely different angle than would you or I. And in practically every instance, their way is good as any. “Characters” have these little quirks which are not in line with our conventional and everyday way of conforming. In a nutshell, these people are of the opinion, “there’s more’n one way to skin a cat”. They are tellers of tales. They are “characters”. They are my favorite people.

           Carefree---happy-go-lucky---worrying about nothing, they care not about the direction ( nor the velocity ) in whichthe wind might blow. They are “free spirits”.      

           Most characters didn’t advance too far in school, but the college Professor and doctorate degree holder who engage in conversation with one will immediately find himself on the defensive. Not only will the character hold his own in chit-chat, he’ll get in the last and final word---EVERYTIME! If that were not true, then he’d hardly qualify as a bonafide “character”. Hear now, and listen well. Don’t go pullin’ your smarts on one of these “characters”. Many have tried, and failed miserably with feeble attempts. It simply will not work, in fact will backfire smack-dab in your face. Henry Clay, Patrick Henry---all the great orators in history would be doomed to finish a distant second in debate with some of the “characters” I’ve met.

           Anyplace one chooses to go he will find these people---these strange ones who act oddly in ways completely alien to regular society. Every locality in the land have their very own. But per population, I very much doubt any place could lay claim to a higher concentration of “characters” than Narrows has had. The cream of the crop!

           The characters who are the focal points in the following stories are all deceased now, and we are poorer for their passing. If you like to read of famous persons or celebrities, drop this reading matter like a hot potato. Nothing appearing between these covers will be of interest to you.

           News-makers or people who decided and changed the course of history---these folks were not. Beyond the borders of Giles County it’s extremely doubtful if anyone ever heard of them. No streets are named in their honor, no imposing tall buildings will ever bear their name, nor will any granite statues sculptured in their image ever stand an eternal vigil casting unseeing gazes across broad horizons.

            None were rich, except in one sense. That would be the tales and folklore that sprang up and surrounded them every step of their colorful lives. The old cliché holds true here--- they were, each and every one, “legends in their own time”.

            The middle-aged and senior-citizens among you probably knew at least one, or perhaps all of these “characters”. Indeed, here in Narrows they were well known. For the younger generation, this is an attempt to acquaint you with them. These are by no means all the stories told about the “old-timers”, but they are some of the better known.

           Some of these stories were told by characters on themselves, others were spun by them on their fellow characters, and yet others were narrated by non-characters. The very least they could do, should you find yourself in their presence, was to add mountains of variety to an otherwise dullish day. And if a little spice was needed to perk up a routine party, at all times these folks were fully-loaded with an abundant supply.

           Before going further I would like to say that I’m often accused of  “living in the past”. To which I readily admit as being true. Golly friend, let’s face up to fact---it was better back there. “Living in the past”--- essentially that’s what these pages and stories are about. Instead of keeping my thoughts walled up inside I will set them down on paper, and as you read them, you too may wish to run the clock back and re-live some of your own past. To permit some of your own “characters” to parade once again thru your thoughts and mind. I’ll venture to say they were some of your favorite people, and I’d like to have known them.

          There is nothing wrong with slipping away in reveries and daydreams, quite the contrary I think it may even create a healthy situation. For just a little while it can take you from the rat-race and fast-pace of today’s hectic world, where everyone is rushing to and fro. Hurrying here! Scrambling there! And getting exactly nowhere.

          Each of us get about 75 years here on this mudball called Earth. That’s all we’re allowed, nothing more. Those tangible and material assets we strive all our lives to amass and pile up won’t count for one iota. Or a hill of beans either.

           Another accusation is often hurled my way. Yeah, I hear this one with great regularity. I’m lacking in the “drive department”---have no ambition whatever. Maybe so, but I’d rather think it’s this thought I carry with me at all times---friend, I’ve got absolutely nowhere to go. And neither, my good buddy, have you!

           The reason we all have this tendency to drift away is, I think, because it takes us back to the very best days of our lives---our childhood. Where each and every day was just one big, long happy lark. No responsibilities! Mom and Dad had shouldered all of those.

           It’s a good place to drift away to, for it is possible in thoughts and mind only. If privacy you are seeking, this is the place to go. No interlopers here. Intruders will not be a bother.

           In the deep recesses of your mind you can be any and all things. Keep it simple, or just as easily, get really far-out. Be a movie star, or the world’s most electrifying rock star. Be an astronaut and go to the moon. The world’s most brilliant scientist, or a daring jet-pilot who has flown faster than anyone. You can even be the first woman to become President. In your mind, and no one need ever know. So I’m not alone in re-living the past . We all do it!

           The youngsters among you will better understand this around the turn of the century. When the calendar reads 2000 you will yearn for a return to your “good ole days”. Wanna’ know somethin’? You’re living them right now. At this very moment you are breathing and physically living in your own past. I must go back to the 30’s and 40’s for mine, but in the year 2000 the decades of the 1970’s and 1980’s will be your past. These are the times you’ll creep back to in thought and memories. Maybe you should enjoy them a tad more.

          And if the past is a true indicator these will seem simple times to what will be then. Between now and that day yet another group of crackpot scientists will make numerous “startling new breakthroughs and discoveries to benefit the whole of mankind” Beware! Far too often these startling new discoveries are needed only to remedy the goofs made by the generation of crackpots who preceded them. And then another group will follow to cure the boners made by today’s crop. It’s a vicious and never-ending cycle.

          What is the biggest problem confronting this nation today? Well, it’s simply that not near enough people have heard that old idiom which plainly states: “If somethin’s workin’, don’t fix it”. There’s far too many fixers runnin’ on the loose---fixin’ and tinkerin’. And messin’ up things!

          I’ll admit I don’t have answers for all our nagging problems, but this doesn’t mean I must remain quiet and subdued, pretending all is well. In my defense, I didn’t proclaim, or promise 10,000,000 voters I did have solutions ( next time someone tells you to refrain from criticism unless you have answers, tell them you didn’t promise yer friends and neighbors 6 stars, 3 comets, 5 moons and a sizeable chunk of the sun! )

          If you’re wondering who I have reference to---well, I’ll not mention names. However, here’s a clue ya’ can gobble down. Most are in politics.

          As I was growing up in Narrows during the 1930’s and 1940’s, the ideal way to pass off yet another hot summer day was to happen upon one of these characters in the downtown area, sitting in the cool of a shade tree and spinning out yarns for any all who cared to listen. In the icy cold of winter these sessions were held in the barbershop and post-office.

           These characters held forth at these gabfests, always the center of attraction. I was drawn to them as is a nail to a magnet. The yarns were told straight-faced and in all seriousness. You were expected to believe while listening, just as they believed while telling. The laughs and guffaws were saved for later--- when you were alone. The first sign of skepticism on your part meant you were no longer welcome in their exclusive circle. You’d  suddenly find yourself “persona-non-grata”.

           It happened in a time when life was much simpler, far less complicated. In an era when folks extended a helping hand for the sake of helping. It happened in a day when material and monetary gain didn’t enter into the scheme  of our every conversation and action. To state it bluntly, it happened way back yonder in better times.

           The government propaganda machine with it’s legions of wheeling-dealing, double-dealing Ivy-League lawyers Will most certainly not agree with the above statement. Quite alright, that’s their perogative. I take exception with those dudes when they try conning the American people that these are ideal times.

           We should each and everyone view that as an insult to our intelligence. Evidently they see us as a bunch of complete idiots who would actually purchase such bunk. It is they, in turn, who are the morons for thinking such a “snow job” could be sold. Thanks in no small quantity must go to these bungling, inept bureaucrats who---with their red-tape and asinine regulations---created the very situation we find ourselves facing. To be sure, they don’t “cotton” to criticism. But as the old song goes, there are lotsa’ things even Momma don’t like. To repeat, these events and stories happened in a better time….

M. L. Wilkinson

April, 1980

Note:

        My book, Narrows And It’s Characters, is made up of 18 short stories. All will be entered on my Web-Site. However, they each will be found under their individuals titles, and in the same sequence as seen in the index…