Page 80 - Mobile Magic

80
She decided to visit every house on her way home from school. When she rang the first doorbell she felt suddenly frightened. As she started to explain what she wanted to the elderly man who answered the door her tongue felt like it had stuck to the top of her mouth. She stammered out some words and he answered, ‘No thank you, young lady, I will not buy any today,’ and shut the door in her face.
She had more luck at the next house, a kindly woman who was eager to be helpful, although, Saffron thought to herself, she probably would sign anything. She went on down the street with very mixed results. At two out of three houses no one came to the door. Probably still at work, she mused, perhaps I would do better on the weekend, I’m certainly not knocking on doors at night.
At one house a sleazy, grease-ball of a man had done his best to get her inside his house with the promise of milk and cookies. It reminded her of the rhyme, come into my parlour said the spider to the fly. She wasn’t falling for that sort of thing, but it made it hard for her to keep her enthusiasm up.
She was even a bit annoyed by people who were so supportive that they talked on and on, wasting her time, when all she really wanted was their signature. She hadn’t thought door knocking would take so much time, she really wanted to have a ride this afternoon, having missed out for the last two days.