Going, Going, Gone
Stacy could hear the clock ticking in the background. It was a carriage clock and had it been handed down to her by her gran. One of her friends had told her it was probably worth quite a bit of money and suggested she took it the auction to have it valued. So next day, that is what she did.
'Can I help you?' the man said at the little window when she arrived at the auction.
'It's this clock. My gran left it to me. I was wondering how much it was worth.'
'I'll have to get someone to value it for you.'
'Can't you do it?'
'I'm afraid not. I'm a porter, not a valuer.'
Stacy was surprised. He looked like he was in charge.
When the valuer came Stacy took the clock out of the bubble wrap and handed it to him. He gave it a good look over. Stacy was beginning to wonder if it was worth anything at all with the way he was looking at it.
'It's worth about 150 to two hundred,' he said to her.
'What, pounds?' she asked him.
'Yes, love. So what do you want to do? I can put it into next week's sale with a reserve of 125.'
'Yeah, go on then,' Stacy said, surprised with how much it was worth.
The following week she turned up at the auction with a friend. While they were waiting for the clock to come up for sale, the porter she had seen when she first took the clock in, came up to her.
'So, you've come to see your clock sell?' he said to Stacy.
'Yeah, I've never been to an auction before.'
'You should get a good price for it. There's been quite lot of interest shown, and there's a telephone bid booked.'
Stacy was really pleased. She was going to use the money she made from the clock towards an holiday.
When it the clock came up for sale, it went straight in at £200 Stacy was getting excited. She was even more excited when it finally made £350.
After the auction she was sad. She wouldn't be seeing that nice porter again. She was going to see if she had anything else she could take in. But she had a surprise as she and her friend where leaving. He was standing by the door.
'Sold your clock, then?' he said to her.
'Yeah, I was surprised with how much it made.'
'It's a nice clock. I've never seen one like that go up for sale before,' he said to her with a smile. 'Oh, can I ask you something before you leave?'
'Course you can?'
'Are you busy tonight?'
'No, I'm not.'
'Fancy coming for a drink, then?'
'Yeah, OK.'
Was Stacy happy making her way home. She had money towards her holiday, and a date with a handsome man. What more could she have asked for?
