Knocking the Neighbors

In a tucked‑away stretch of the Celery Belt, a modest flag‑station bustles with the odd rhythm of one‑day coach arrivals, buckets of oysters, and crates of eggs. Here two self‑styled pillars of the community, Milt and Henry, preside over a town that clings to old‑fashioned proprieties—gum‑booted citizens, parched corn at gatherings, and a strict dry‑movement that banishes liquor to the cellar or the pharmacist. Their daily parade through the streets, arm‑in‑arm with corn‑flake parcels and missionary reports, makes them local icons for children who stare from front windows, hoping to emulate their upright example.

Beneath the respectable façade, the duo nurtures a restless curiosity for the glittering life beyond their isolated kraal. As autumn approaches, they plot a “fall buying” escapade, gathering nickels for a promised taste of Tiffany water and other urban curiosities. Their modest ambitions, peppered with humor and a touch of satire, set the stage for a whimsical journey that teeters between earnest moralism and the pull of the wider, bewildering world.