Stuck To the Shelf/ The Paper Clip Mystery

   

    Hey, everyone, across the known world. I ventured forth into the haunts of men today. I had to pick up a new pair of spectacles (not shown). I also picked up some new contact lenses. It was a relief to get that chore over with. But the day was not without its pleasures.
     I bought the DVD of the latest Star Wars flick. Carley and I had watched it at the theater around the holidays but I'll probably talk about it when I watch it again. When I got home it was blustery and cool but I grilled some steaks. Carley fixed baked taters (southern for potatoes), rolls and salads. She put stuff on the salads until they were a meal. Sure, lettuce, tomato, cheese, grape, pineapple, onion, boiled eggs, strawberry and dressing.
    On the steaks I put Cajun, not an actual person but the spice, Greek and Montreal steak spice. The meal was good and I washed had almond-pistachio ice cream for dessert. Then I kicked back in my recliner and went to sleep. Thus refreshed, I was ready to play Far Cry Primal and battle the bloodtooth mammoth shown above. Carley was the one who defeated the surly brute due to my expert tutelage. I told her to stand on an elevated place and toss firebombs at the wretch, then apply the coupe de gras with spears.
    But was that the limit of my entertainment? I say unto thee, nay.
While out, I went to a used book store and as you can see, I bought a few paperbacks. The Phillip Jose Farmer book pictured was the 5th in a series called The World of Tiers series. The first book in the series was published in 1965. I had read several of the series, but I don't remember if I have read this one or not.
     The World of Tiers series is about a couple of earthlings who go through a gate into another dimension. There are many gates that are routinely accessed by a group of high-tech aliens called lords. These men and women create bizarre planets for their amusement. They are inhabited by wierd creatures. The lords flit from one universe to another, trying to kill one another. The series was not as good, to me, as Farmer's Riverworld series. This series was about every human who ever lived being reborn along the banks of a river on another world. Well, you can imagine Hitler, Nero, Alexander the Great, Marilyn Monroe, Bogart, everybody, awakening, naked, on the banks of a river. There are "grail stones" that give them food twice a day. If you dig sci-fi you might want to try these intriguing novels.
     The book pictured, The Lavalite World, had been taped on the binding. It was on the bottom of a stack and it was stuck to the shelf. I had to pry it loose and it came out with a noise like cloth tearing. The proprietor eyed me askance but since I added it to my 'buy' pile nothing was said.
     I bought an Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine for nostalgia's sake. This is from 1998 but I remember them from when I was a kid. A pulp, if you will, with short mystery stories. Fold it in your back pocket and read it at lunch break on the job. This venue was a good way for storytellers to break into the business. Not high-brow stuff but good, fast paced stories. Such pubs were Edgar Rice Burroughs bread and butter, before Tarzan made him a rock star. Hey, how many writers have a town named after his character? (Tarzana, California)
    Finally, there was the paperclip mystery. The lady placed this clip on one handle of the bag. I found it odd. In fact, I started to write a short story about it.(Not at the store, but when I got home.)
1) The lady attached a note to the paperclip stating that she was being held hostage by the guy in the back room. He was watching on camera. The note fluttered to the floor without the writer seeing it. Her chalky face puzzled him as he turned and walked from the store with a cheery "Good day."
     Halfway to his car, he turned and came back. He was asking her if something were wrong as her tormentor burst from the back room and snatched the note from the side of the counter.
"Mind your own business," he snarled to the writer.
     Seeing that the cashier was plainly terrified, the writer studied the grim, grey man before him.
"Sir, I'm afraid that I'll have to see that note."
       .......
    Of course, the paper clip was probably on the used wal-mart bag as it traveled through a dozen pairs of hands. Perhaps the lady, bored out of her mind, had been placing a clip on every customer's bag. Maybe even securing one handle to the other with the said clips. When the book total reached 5 or 6, perhaps she planned on doing something in particular. Maybe she was a serial killer who had lain out 27 bags, every other one with a paper clip. It was her plan to kill the person who received the dreaded bag  with the 7th clip of the day. Maybe... we'll find out at a later date, at the author's green retreat. I'm CE Wills.
P.S. I am going to throw away this darn clip immediately.