A few years ago, my wife and I had this dream of moving out of our little manufactured home and into a "real" house. We shopped around, and even took a trip to a builder not far from us. The homes were beautiful, and in our insane hope that we could actually sell our current home (which, we later found out is virtually impossible in today's market), we spent time deciding exactly which upgrades to order for the home. We even got to the point of meeting with the financing guy.
In the end, we couldn't swing it. But, hey...sometimes dreams die. Or at least hibernate.
In the meantime, it became good fodder for a story. But wait, there's more!
Ever buy something that you think is perfect? When I was a kid, I wanted Laser Tag. So when my birthday was approaching, my mom asked me what I wanted, and I told her. How cool would it be to be able to play Laser Tag in your own back yard? I was thrilled! And, to my surprise, my parents bought it! Or, rather, some cheap knock-off.
But guess what? After spending fifteen minutes pointing my new laser gun at my friend's vest at point blank range without it ever registering a hit, the fun was done. I'd call it buyer's remorse, except that I didn't do the buying. My parents did. They were kind of mad that I never played with it again.
Anyhow, June's Story of the Month is titled Buyer's Remorse. It is a speculative fiction piece that combines three separate ideas that I had (hinted at above) and put together into a single piece. Please have a read, and give me your honest feedback. I hope you enjoy it!
