“DUCK TAPE”

“Be careful”, Merry scolded. 

“I will”, Hanger smiled at her. 

Then he saw the stern look on her face and knew she was serious. 

“I mean it, Henry. No more zigzagging or loopty-loos like at the festival. You nearly scared half the town to death and Dexter Dolby had a heck of a time getting those poor turkeys back in their crates,” Merry looked sternly at Hanger. 

Merry was referring to the flyover Hanger did at the Harvest Film Festival. 

“It’s a good thing Roger had ‘duck tape’ on hand.” 

“That’s ‘duct tape’, my dear, Hanger giggled. 

Merry looked perplexed. 

“You say, ‘duct’. I say, ‘quack, quack’. 

Hanger got in his Ol’ Jenny and flew off in the direction of the Connelly potato farm. He worked many summers on that farm digging potatoes for Ol’ Man Connelly and daydreaming of the day when he could fly.  

Hanger joined the Army shortly thereafter, got married and raised a family. Now, all these years later, he finally has his own plane. He still works at the Connelly farm fertilizing the crops. Ol’ Man Connelly passed away shortly after Hanger went into the Army. His son owns it now. 

Hanger thought back to the festival that day and the chaos that followed. He couldn’t help but smile as he remembered how Justice, Ol’ Man Connelly’s son and Garrett Storm, Letongaloosa’s leading weather man had dared Hanger to buzz over Dexter during his speech because he tended to be a tad longwinded. The boys thought it’d be fun to shake things up a bit. 

Everything was going fine. Hanger was all set to fly when his knob to his radio fell off. Hanger was caught off guard, but he was able to pull off scaring Dexter, but he got a little too close to the crowd and the turkeys. It caused all sorts of commotion, not to mention a disgruntled   mayor.  

After Hanger apologized and helped Dexter gather a few angry birds, everyone in town was laughing at what had just happened. Including the speech presenter. 

“You sure gave me a start!” Dexter quipped. Your flyover gave me an idea for a new project. My boss at the studio has been asking me about writing a new script and I couldn’t think of anything until today thanks to you. I mean a sequel to my film, ‘Attack of the 50-FootTurkey” would be…”  

“Glad to be helpful,” Hanger sighed and walked toward the hardware store to find a quick fix for the radio knob for his Jenny. 

Justice Connelly was standing with a roll of duct tape in hand by the time Hanger reached Rollins Hardware. 

“Here you go!” Justice grinned. 

“Thanks. That should hold it till I get back to the shop. Merry is going to be upset with me for this stunt.,” Hanger sighed. 

And he was right, 

“I know Dexter talks a lot, but those poor turkeys!” Merry said. 

She was trying to sound stern, but Merry was having a hard time trying not to smile as she saw the look on Mayor Turners face once the turkeys broke free from their pen. 

“Seriously, Henry. You could have been hurt.” Merry said. 

“I know,” Hanger said as he kissed her cheek and headed toward his shop to fix the knob that started all the commotion and the inspiration for Dexter’s potential upcoming blockbuster. 

Oh, that was a fun and memorable day. Hanger smiled as he got into Jenny. He looked over at the knob. The outline of the ‘duck tape’ was faint.  

Heading off in the direction of Ol’ Man Connelly’s, Hanger grinned, looked over his shoulder to make sure no turkeys were in flight and did al oopty loo for luck.