Meeting Kelli

A strange encounter.

Meeting Kelli

(This story is posted as true, but it is not entirely true. I enhanced the facts a bit to make it a bit more entertaining.)

Have you ever run into one of the characters you created in one of your stories?

Impossible...right, I mean, they're not real.

In almost all cases they are fictional fabrications from warped old minds of men like me.

My wife and I went shopping the other day at our local, friendly, Wall-Mart Super Store in Canton, Texas.

"Don't forget to take your phone," replied my wife, reminding me of how often I get lost.

Generally I wonder about the store, like a misplaced child.

Today, I stood in the power tool section lusting after a 20 volt Black and Decker cordless drill.

"Do you like drills?"

I looked around,

"Huh,what?

Are you talking to me?" I asked.

She was blonde, blue eyed, about five feet tall, possibly 13 years old, and pointing to a cordless drill on display.

"Yes, I was." she said smiling.

"Do you like this one? I think it's pretty cool looking!" she exclaimed.

She was holding an off brand 12 volt drill that looked to be built a little cheap.

I looked at her, surprised by her boldness. She had caught me off guard.

"Yeah, I guess, but, personally," I responded, "I prefer something with a bit more power, and sturdier, like this one."

I pointed to the Black and Decker I had been eyeballing.

She reached and grabbed it, waving it around like a miniature light saber from Star Wars.

"Yeah, I really like this one. It has a really skinny battery."

For the next few moments we discussed the pros and cons of different drills.

"What does Lithium Ion mean?"

"I don't know," I answered, "I know they're a type of battery. I think they last longer than the other type."

We scooted down the isle when she excitedly reached for another drill.

"Ooh, I just love this one."

"You don't want that one," I replied.

"Why not?" she said with a pout.

"Because," I said, "It's corded. That means you always have to be near a source of electricity to use it. They're much less convenient than cordless."

"Gee Mr., you know a lot about drills. You should talk to my friend, except, she's disappeared suddenly."

She looked up and giggled, "She knows all about drills and power tools."

In a moment her friend appeared from around a corner.

"Hi Mindy (not her real name ), " she exclaimed.

She looked at me and explained, "This is my good friend Mindy. She knows all about power tools. She loves anything with power."

By now I was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable. An old man hanging out with a couple of strange tweenie type little girls seemed a bit odd.

I began looking for an opportunity to opt out of this strange situation.

Finally I blurted out,

"Well, I have to go find my wife now. See ya."

"But... Okay." she stammered, a bit surprised by my sudden announcement.

"Mindy says you should go to Loews.. Buy the Ryobi.

Thanks for talking to me."

I turned and looked back at her, "Yeah, it was fun." I smiled.

As I walked toward the electronic department, my mind was going wild. This child was the same character that appeared in a story I wrote some time back called Kelli, except this girl didn't have dark hair fixed in funny looking pigtails that seemed to stick out in all directions.

It was a spooky experience nonetheless. I didn't think anyone like Kelli could possibly exist, but there she was, a real person.

Life is always full of wonderful little surprises, like that double by pass surgery I had last November 24th 2015. That wasn't suppose to happen in my book.

So, fellow writers, if you've ever met one of your characters face to face, share it with us here on WC. It would be fun reading.

Have a wonderful day.

Author's Note

So, has anything like this happened to you? It was strange.

Reviews

[emmajoygreen]

There was this man I bumped into now and again. Was good with words, put them into such fine order they taught how and how not to bump into people, big or small. And what's more (apart from putting that word first of a sentence!) - have strange conversations about things many might find weird, odd or strange. But, that said, often create such excitement - they serve as the core of a highly awarded headline novel!

[Lorry]

Well, highly unlikely...yes, but impossible...no!
I used to write a lot of short short stories and one of my favourites was called Richmond, a goth who lived in a room at the back of an office and would always get caught sneaking out, like he was normal.
Okay, I based this on a real TV character called Richmond, from the TV comedy the IT crowd, but I did actually meet the actor who played him once and called him Richmond about fourteen times!
His name is Noel Fielding and he was as bizarre in real life as he was on TV.
He even stopped and waited for us as I shouted (and I do apologise for the language, "F**k me! What are you doing out Richmond? He was pretty cool and chatted with us for a bit, but even now I catch myself wondering "Did I invent Richmond or did Richmond invent me?
I guess we'll never know! ☺