Timberwood: Short Stories Edition - Vol. 52
Wyndale Arcenaux was minding his own business, just shopping away at his local grocery store, Kiwi Colada, which is known for their farmers market style items. Kiwi Colada is notable for being "the farmers market with a roof over its head". Meaning indoor & not outdoor. There are several locations in the region. The store sells lots of local, organic, non-gmo produce, meat & anything not really found in the grocery aisles. The store even sells homemade soap, shampoo, conditioner, body butter, deodorant, perfume... you name it!
When Wyndale was looking at the peaches, he was physically tapped on the shoulder by a veteran cult member, named Edwin Jones. Edwin has been in Timberwood since they opened the doors on January 15, 1985. Edwin tried some small talk with Wyndale, but Wyndale wanted to shop in peace. He really didn't want to be bothered. He tried to blow Edwin off, but Edwin was persistent, to the point of harassment. Wyndale almost got loud & ghetto with Edwin, but he didn't want to get kicked out of his favorite store or go to jail for disturbing the peace. So, he gave Edwin a BLATANT hint to go away, by putting his headphones on & tuning him out. He continued shopping.
Edwin was stalking Wyndale around the store & even secretly followed him to his truck. While Wyndale was putting his groceries away, Edwin snuck a Timberwood cult recruitment brochure in 1 of his grocery bags while he wasn't looking. He didn't know until after he got home, & his wife, Alexia, was putting away the groceries & asked him about it.
Alexia asked, "Babe. What is this?"
Wyndale replied, "What is WHAT?"
She held up the brochure & said, "THIS!"
Wyndale squinted his eyes a bit, with a confused look on his face. He angrily jerked the brochure out of her hand & said, "Gimme that!", & then he tore up the brochure & threw it in the trash.
Alexia said, "What's with your attitude?"
Wyndale said, "Nothing! Just NOTHING! Don't worry about it."
Alexia kept pressing the issue. Wyndale mistakenly thought that Edwin was just some snake oil salesman trying to sell him a fake, scam product. He had no idea that he dodged a bullet by refusing to join a cult & losing his soul. Before bed, the couple was arguing over that brochure, & neither of them actually knew what they were arguing about.
Alexia went looking through the trash & tried to piece together what the brochure was about. She had no idea that it was a cult. She just saw "too-good-to-be-true" sounding promises of easy money. Edwin had his name, phone #, email address & the nearest local Timberwood cult location's physical address written on the back. She lost sleep, fantasizing about this "opportunity" all night long.
For revenge, she called Edwin 1st thing in the morning. She didn't even do her research or investigate. When Wyndale woke up, he was angry, & they argued again. Wyndale thought that Alexia was cheating on him with another man. She wasn't cheating. She was just DESPERATE for that financial "opportunity". She made a verbal agreement over the phone with Edwin. It was a done deal. Instead of her going to her regular job, she instantly quit that, to join Timberwood. She unknowingly signed her life & her whole family's life to the cult, eventually losing her whole family in the process.
Timberwood was on a mission to get Wyndale "out of the way", since he knew too much & wouldn't cave in. They tried to destroy him in every way they could. Alexia ended up leaving Wyndale for Edwin & moving in with him. Alexia forced all of her & Wyndale's kids to join the cult. Even the kids who were of age. Everything happened so fast! & Wyndale ended up going into such a deep depression that he couldn't get out of bed. After a while, he ended up losing his job & became homeless.
One day, Wyndale called up his dad, Mr. Tim, & told Mr. Tim everything that had transpired. His pride was too big for him to be a grown man, asking his dad to move back in with him, but he had to humble himself & do what he had to do so that he wouldn't have to suffer on the streets or in the shelters. Mr. Tim let him come & stay by him. They did MUCH prayer & fasting, hoping that Wyndale could get his wife, children & job back. Everything started to seem hopeless. Alexia & the kids wanted NOTHING to do with Wyndale.
One day, Wyndale had an emotional breakdown, crying. But he didn't want to give up. Mr. Tim gave him a pep talk. He was helping Wyndale realize that Wyndale wasn't the problem. Wyndale was the smart one. His dad told him, "Look at it this way, Son. At least you still have your senses, your integrity & your soul. They lost theirs. They will never be the same again!"
THE END