The Pipe Tool

An old man's weapon...

 

 

The Pipe Tool

 

   The old man was seated on a bench close to the cathedral, cleaning his pipe. He liked to sit there under the trees and watch the people going about their business. I say 'liked', but there was little that really pleased his eye. He was by no means a bitter man, but he was perceptive, and what he perceived disturbed him.

   He saw too many men wandering about in the middle of the day. He guessed they weren't working and this saddened him. He had worked all his life, first in the mills and later as a school caretaker, and felt now that he had just retired in time. He knew it was hard to get work these days and he puzzled at what the sons of the thousands of men who used to work in the mills and factories were doing now. Surely not everyone could work in an office or a shop?

   Yes, his had been the good days, although he hadn't realised it at the time. He scraped the bottom of the pipe bowl and tapped out the ashes at his feet. He didn't smoke much these days and his doctor wanted him to give it up, but he enjoyed the ritual of cleaning and filling his pipe as much as he enjoyed smoking it.

   A young policeman stopped near the old man and turned to speak to his female colleague. The man felt their approach and looked up.

  "What's that you have there?"

  "It's a pipe tool."

  "Can I have a look at that, please?"

   The man handed it over and observed the policeman inspecting the tool. He pulled out each of the three attachments; one for scraping, one for prodding and one for tamping down the tobacco, before closing it and handing it to his colleague. After conversing in undertones the policeman said,

  "I'm going to have to take this off you, sir. It could be classed as a weapon."

  "My pipe tool? I've had it for twenty years and never thought of it as a weapon before."

  He smiled at them in that disarming way that some people have. The young woman handed the tool back to her colleague and said something that the man did not catch.

  "Well, here you are, but be sure to keep it in the house from now on. We can't be too careful nowadays."

   The old man took the tool and nodded at the pair. They walked away without another word and he put the tool into his pocket. He chuckled to himself but did not feel at all aggrieved.

 

   He got up and walked through the town towards his home, past the wreckage of the previous night's disturbances. An Asian shopkeeper was boarding up his broken windows and other people appeared to be standing guard over what was left of their stock. A burnt out car still gave out a little heat and the old man recalled vague images of the bombing raids of his infancy. Perhaps, he thought, it was time to finally give up smoking.

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Ravyne Hawke]

Wonderful flash fiction.. you did a great job with building up to the last couple of paragraphs.. the riot, the trashing of buildings and the old man giving up smoking.. I've seen those pipe cleaning tools before and find it equally ridiculous that anyone would think it a weapon, but I guess anything can become one if used the wrong way.. really a successful, tight write on this.

[Koibito "Nickie" Kitsuy..]

Nicely done. I love the flow of the story. I also like how you also gave possible room for expansion on the story as well.

[Laminators Dubai]

i cant say a word about it.
i already read so much and see, feel, so far that i can really understand this story but sir just made it perfect, i did it so well. this is less descriptive and that special about it. its on reader to imagine before and after of it and keep thinking, keep thinking about every single event.

sir you did it really well i really satisfied with it, keep going...

[London's Lily]

At the risk of sounding simple, I love this! I enjoy your writing style ~ you're able to convey the atmosphere with minimal words, very successfully offering me the bird's eye view of this man and his little midday encounter. I also enjoyed (with a "tsk, tsk, such a shame it's true" sort of feeling) the irony of his situation ~ the police taking the time to show concern over something so insignificant as a pipe tool, while the world around them has bigger fish to fry, and none the result of a pipe tool.

Thanks to Lori for sending me, as this was the first I've read your work. I'm looking forward to reading more of your writing. :)

[Clara]

I enjoyed this immensely. Thank you.

[Samuel Dickens]

Yes, change is certainly upon us, and not all for the better. No young person would do the work today that I did at their age. Like you inferred, I guess they all want an office job, perhaps tapping away on a keyboard. The only thing I tapped at were those big rocks interfering with my fence post holes. And the pipe tool--that sounds so believable. I've carried a pocket knife since I was eight, but now have to remember to leave it at home when going into certain buildings. Very good writing, AR.

[Marie]

A little sad, a little bitter...
I've read everything you've posted so far, and I can see that you're a very good writer.

[bobc]

ARL...read it but I just don't feel qualified to comment on stories. I've never successfully used that form in my own writing over the years. Sorry about that...bobc

[Rosaria_V]

Very well done!! :) I loved it.

[Will Neill]

A tender little tale of how things change, good peice.
Will