Battle Front

45 Replies
PHOTO PROMPT © Alicia Jamtaas

A whiff of burned metal and the padlock was off.  They opened the door a crack and we all took a peek.

I glanced around, pretending to not to glance around.

The big guys, the ones whose names I knew, had on their best poker faces, but I could tell there was little interest.  They, in turn, were taking their cues more from the cameras than the contents.

The cameras had on their poker faces as well.  I could tell this wasn’t a setup.

But I knew bikes.

I opened the bid low and smiled.

Specialized would bring big bucks.

***

Have you ever seen Storage Wars? I have no clue if it is still on, but I saw it a couple of times many years ago. Funny. And you could tell that some units were setups. The usual suspects could usually sniff out the ones that had the big-money items hidden. Either that, or they just didn’t show the ones that were duds. Of course they didn’t show ones that others bought…

*

word count = 100

Friday Fictioneers is hosted by  Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.  This week’s prompt is here and uses a photo by @ Alicia Jamtaas . If you want to join or see other stories, go to the inlinkz linkup.

45 thoughts on “Battle Front”

    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I never turned on Storage Wars, but it occasionally came on because the TV was left on after watching something else on that channel. Seeing a few shows spread out over a few years I really think some of the storage units are set ups, just to add excitement. There was always at least one jaw dropping item found, like original plans for a famous art-deco building in Chicago hidden in otherwise boring junk. Really?

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  2. Brenda's Thoughts

    I do remember Storage Wars and watched a few times. It’s true, the shows more about the personalities than the stuff in the units. It is an intriguing thought that there’s treasure to be found. We humans like that notion. Nicely done, Trent!

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Despite the personalities, it is hard to believe how long it lasted. I think it does have to do with that intrigue that there may be a treasure in that discarded trash. Thanks!

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  3. authorfleurl

    Don’t get me started about reality tv…lol Those hoarders that let go of stuff and off it goes…and the collectors move in to get the best price. A good take on the prompt, nicely done. :-)

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Storage units are people hanging on to useless junk, but buying the contents of abandoned units is scraping through cast off trash in the hopes you’ll find treasure. A few steps above dumpster diving, but still odd that a TV show about it ran for so many years…

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  8. Bear

    I think I might have seen that show once… boring! Anyway, I used to clean out storage units for a local owner back home at the end of the college year. found a lot of useful things as well as some very curious items. Sometimes, I just called the police…

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I have no idea how that show ever got on the air, and yet it lasted for years! Some people…
      I can imagine that you did have to call the police pretty often when cleaning out storage units! I don’t even want to think what might have been left in some of the units….

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      1. Bear

        I’m sure we could write many a novel for sure. Usually, I found baggies of weed and other assorted drugs. On the up side, Anything I found worth keeping was mine. At that time, we had nothing save our clothes, so finding dishes and furniture was always a blessed thing. Also books, tons of books, mostly college texts… I read them all.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I think the show went on for years and the people on it became minor cult celebrities. Most of the units were just junk, but it is possible you could find soemthign interesting. not for me though – I have no desire to go through someone’s cast off stuff, even if they forgot about the 12 ounces of gold in the rotted out dresser ;)

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      At the time there were a few competing shows about finding treasure in people’s junk, but this one was much more about the personalities of the people bidding than the actual “treasures” that they found. And, yes, most of the people were dealers looking to make a buck.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Back when this was on there was “Pickers”, which was about finding “Americana” in out of the way places. This often had some good lessons about the items they found. Then there was “Pawn Stars” that was more about the personalities but did occasionally dip into history. “Storage Wars” was 100% about the personalities of the people bidding on the units. There was always at least one really good find, but they had to be plants.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Yeah, mostly junk, but I think there was always one or two high value items that were placed in a unit or two to make the shows more interesting. If there wasn’t at least cool or high value item per show, why would you tune in to the next one?

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            1. trentpmcd Post author

              It was interesting. There were a few other “treasure hunt” type shows on at the same time, and this one was much more about the different personalities and how they saw and operated than some, like “Pickers”.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      It is fascinating. I am pretty sure, and I know others feel the same, that there is at least one or two items planted in some of the lockers to make the show more interesting. But then, what some people would abandon in a storage unit is amazing…

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