Have I Got a Story to Tell You

Roy E. Staggs

Description

Engaging and wide-ranging, this collection of short stories explores real-life experiences, love, hope, faith, and a variety humorous encounters.

The effects of events in our lives can be an influencing factor in storytelling. From a police officer’s week full of mishaps to the history of one man’s classic car to an encounter of faith in a bar, anything can serve as the inspiration for a tale.

Have I Got a Story to Tell You presents a collection of stories gathered from fictional and nonfictional accounts of various situations that could happen in a past or a modern-day city anywhere in America. The tales feature real-life drama, influence, laughter, tears, reflections, and happiness. Some of these stories come from author Roy E. Staggs’s real-life experiences, while others emerged from his imagination and are intended only to be read and enjoyed.

Engaging and wide-ranging, this collection of short stories explores real-life experiences, love, hope, faith, and a variety humorous encounters.

Sujets

• Storytelling
• Short Stories
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 05 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664255890
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Have I Got a Story to Tell You
 
Stories of Life, Laughter, Mishaps, and Faith
 
 
 
 
 
 
ROY E. STAGGS
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 Roy E. Staggs.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-5588-3 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-5587-6 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-5589-0 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022901487
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 03/18/2022
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Hank the Handyman
A Day at the Beach
Eyes and Boats
A Good Hat
Baseball and Beech-Nut
Chocolate Candy Bars
Kline’s Car
A Faithful Encounter
Alfred’s Week of Folly
Grandma’s Chocolate Cake
Grandpa’s Candy
Harry’s Truck
Jake the Accountant
Lessons Learned
Living the Moments
Texas Barbecue and Fugitives
The Man Next Door
The Photograph
The Race
The Rewards of Oversleeping
The River
The Volunteer Reserves
The Woman in 5B
The Man on the Bus
Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledges the following people for their contributions to the stories in this book.
Luther Runnels, former Fire Fighter, Fire Marshal, and EMT. Tyler Texas
Carol Staggs, Teacher, Lecturer, and Adjunct, Midland Texas
Robert Staggs, former Petty Officer, United States Navy, Clayton, Oklahoma
Introduction
Every action someone takes has a consequence whether good, bad, or indifferent. Sometimes those consequences come back to haunt a person. Like the stories you are about to read, some actions are funny to some but not to others. Some actions occur by divine intervention, while others are created by man. Some of these stories will see the humor in some of the stories. Life is too short not to be unhappy. Everyone needs to laugh now and again. I have always heard that people who laugh a lot live longer. That endorphins thing is the reason. But, with laughter, life also brings tears of joy, sadness, fear, and faith. It is good the stop and look around yourself and see the individual trees in the forest. People also need quiet time to themselves to think. I remember watching some of the old-timers in my youth, sitting in a porch swing, daydreaming as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
When I was a young man and all stressed out over some situation, I would go to my grandparents’ house. They lived several miles from town, where it was peaceful and quiet. I would spend time just visiting and sitting in that old porch swing. I would often fall asleep on the front porch with a cool evening breeze blowing in my face. That was such a relaxing time. I would leave that place relaxed, destressed, and ready to face the world again. Of course, I enjoyed visiting with my grandparents and other family members.
There are times in life when we feel like God doesn’t hear us or even care about us. We get ourselves into situations that bring about stress, discomfort, and nervous worrying, and get our stomachs in a knot. Our problems are many times brought about by our own actions or lack thereof. Then, we pray for relief but usually asking for the problem to be resolved our way. We don’t consider how were got there in the first place. We tend to put God in a box and only take HIM out when we are in trouble or want something. Those wants are usually something we don’t need but want them so badly. When God doesn’t make them suddenly appear, we get mad and put God back in the box. Sometimes we need to get to ourselves, get quiet, sit down, and just listen. People would be surprised what they will hear.
People want things done today in a nano second. We are always in a hurry to get somewhere or do something. When someone gets in our way or doesn’t move fast enough to suit our needs, we get angry. Someone once defined a nano second as the time it takes the light to turn green and the car behind you to honk the horn. I wondered just how much time we are wasting by doing this. Life is passing us by so fast, yet we want to live a hundred miles an hour. Again, life is short; enjoy it while you can.
Other times we see things, we try to apply some scientific explanation to the event. Miracles happen every day; we just don’t realize it at the time. We see things we often don’t want to believe, rather than taking things by faith. People often criticize others for believing in miracles and even believing in Christ. My dad used to say that we are judged by the scars we bare for Christ. If you are a believer, you are judged by mankind already as one of those Bible thumpers, a holy rollie, or simply a nut case. It takes all kinds of people to make a world. The believers are living in the world but aren’t really a part of it.
In this book, the readers will find stories of faith, read about miracles, laugh out loud at the funny stories, and perhaps even shed a tear when they read of how God intervened in the characters’ lives.
The last words I have for the readers are being patient with yourself, being kind to others, taking time to stop and listen, and keeping a short prayer list. Relax and read the stories that will bring you joy, tears, laughter, and faith.
God Bless
Hank the Handyman
Every town has its handy people who fix things. Some do it as a hobby, while others do it as a business.
Our town was no different from any other one in this country. We had a handyman. His name was Hank. He was good at what he did, and he didn’t charge an arm and a leg for his services. He worked a lot for the elderly and handicapped citizens. Hank would let those who were in unfortunate circumstances or down on their luck pay their bills over time. He was just an all-around decent guy.
Everyone in our town knew him. Hank was not married, and he still lived in his parents’ home. Hank became the town hero when he saved two children’s lives. He also kept his father alive after he had had a stroke and before the ambulance arrived. He was a special person indeed.
Hank grew up in our town, and he was a hometown boy. He was already an adult when my class graduated from high school. His parents convinced him to start a business when he was twenty-six years old. He had a full-time job, and he was a handyman on the side.
Two years later, his workload had doubled. Hank continued to work full-time, but he started a handyman business. He called it Hank’s Handy Works. He even had business cards made and an ad printed in the Sunday paper. Some say that he made more money in his part-time work than in his full-time job.
Betty was a senior citizen who lived just down the street from Hank. She had known Hank since he was a child. She had been widowed when she was fifty. Her husband had had a heart attack and passed away on the same day. When Betty’s dryer stopped working, she called Hank’s parents and asked if Hank was available to repair it.
Hank stopped by on his lunch break to check out the dryer. The dryer had tripped an electrical breaker. No more than fifteen minutes later, Hank had repaired the dryer. Hank refused any pay for his service. He knew that she was on a fixed income. The widow dropped off a freshly baked apple pie at his house for his services. Hank gladly accepted that pie in lieu of money. That was Hank all right. He was generous with his time and kindhearted.
He spent Saturdays working at his parents’ home. He would mow the grass, trim the bushes, plant flowers, and do general maintenance. He worked well with his hands.
He spent Sundays in Sunday school and church. Hank did not work on Sundays. He rested from his labor. Sometimes if something broke, Hank would put a quick fix on it and do complete repairs the next day. Again, that was Hank.
Some people say that Hank had premonitions. He would be getting ready to go somewhere when an image would pop into his head. That image would be of someone he would meet a few minutes later. These premonitions also brought him to certain places at certain times.
Some said that it was God guiding him to places where he needed to be when something was about to occur. No one knew for sure. People only said this after the incidents. Others said that Hank must have been an angel sent from heaven. No one knew about that for sure either.
Most thought that he was just lucky and that he should have bought a lottery ticket or gone to Las Vegas. Everything Hank touched turned to gold. When he started his business, he took out an ad in the paper. The next day, he had eleven calls about repairs. As far as anyone knew, Hank never had a day when he wasn’t doing something for someone.
Those so-called premonitions led Hank to places wher