Outside the Box 2

Character Study: Dennis and the hidden knowledge…

The street was quiet. There seemed to be a never ending downpour of soggy rain that tapped at the windows in the front of the store. The rain wouldn’t keep the regulars out though, in fact many would be inspired to drop by and look for just the right video for the night. The shelves inside were filled with heavily used but loved movies, most of which had not been converted to the next format for viewing. Some probably would not make it that far, and the heavy cassettes that protected the long delicate ribbon could not stop even the most general viewing from eventually stretching and tearing it’s precious cargo.

Dennis watched the rain for several hours and thought about the video store. It had been his only wish to share the same enjoyment and nostalgia that watching a VHS had brought him when he was young. Those days were filled with gunfights and giant spiders, immortals battling to be the last, an archeologist who taught by day and used whip by night, and more excitement packed into two hours than he could ever believe. It was everything that a bed stricken boy could want. TV was for the saps that were satisfied with stories that could be solved in less than thirty minutes. Movies were for those that did not need commercial breaks, and could understand plots that intertwined and looped around keeping you just on the edge of your seat. Dennis could play out the epic moments of all the greats, and did so throughout his days.

The store sat back from the street in a small corner of downtown. It was everything he could afford, and it was enough. His mother had left him enough to run the store until it could support itself. It probably never would but Dennis didn’t care. He was careful with his money, he had seen lots of movies that featured people who had lost theirs. The days in the store were mostly filled with watching videos and helping those customers who braved to enter, though they rarely spent their money.

Dennis moved from the counter for a moment to check the backroom where his elderly father Walter sat watching television. Walter was lucid this afternoon and seemingly happy with his antique television shooting rays of sitcoms and commercials into his eyes, a cooling TV dinner waiting to be devoured before him. Dennis moved back to the front of the store and noticed the clock on the wall. The clock depressingly chimed that eight o’clock hour of the night had come.

The ringing of the clock had obviously distracted Dennis from the front door chime, as there stood a man tall and dark, wearing a large brimmed hat. His hat and coat dripped cool water to the floor beneath him and immediately apologized to Dennis.

“it’s no problem. Don’t worry about it…” Dennis smiled politely. “How can I help you this evening?”

The man smiled at him in the way that a grandfather might smile at his youngest grandson. “I’ve come because I have heard that you might have an interest in procuring additional inventory. I have a wonderful selection of videos.”

Dennis paused a moment. “Um, yeah. I’d love to take a look but I’ll have to warn you that I already have a pretty good collection of blockbusters.” he waited another moment gauging the mans reaction. The man continued to smile patiently. Dennis looked inside the large wet box sitting beside the man. There were at least a hundred movies inside, most which Dennis already had. “Well, there’s not much I’d really need right now…” Dennis looked up and saw the mans smile loosen around the sides. He felt bad, most of the tapes were in great condition and would resell well, if the market were to pick up.

“I can only really offer you six dollars for the box.” Dennis waited for the sigh of the customer who always believed that they had sat on a gold mine all these years as DVD’s began to rule the market. That sigh didn’t come. Instead the man’s smile returned and he patted Dennis on the back.

“My boy you have yourself a deal!” The man pushed the box gently toward Dennis and waited for his earnings. Dennis forked over the cash, several dollar bills and a few coins that had been waiting for someone to come f

or quite a while now. The man thanked Dennis and walked out of the store, perhaps thinking that he had made a fortune that day. Walter peered out from the doorway, hunched over a dark wooden cane. “how much did you sell?” he asked quietly, his eyebrows raised high in anticipation.

“oh, uh, well…” Dennis stuttered. Walters eyebrows lowered slowly to a mild furl, but only a second later they leveled out in again in quiet resignation. He walked over to Dennis and began helping remove and sort videos from the box. Dennis let a crooked smile loose as he watched his father work through the box with him.

At the bottom of the box were several tapes that lay face down. “Huh… I’ve never seen these before…” he studied them for a moment. “They seem to be horrors, or science fiction of some sort. This one says Necronomicon; the secrets of other worlds. It seems to be an independent studio. I’ll have to go to the library and Google this one.” Dennis read the cover over and over again. Trying to make sense of the movie or documentary or whatever it was.

Walter held up another, ” Hmm… this one says ‘The Call of Cthulhu, The true story’. I don’t know son, these are some strange video’s.”

Dennis wondered….

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