Extreme Salve
It was a small gift box, with a note on it that read, “For the man who has everything — except this.”
And so, mildly intrigued, expecting not much more than a play on words, he opened it up and found a little blue jar labeled: Extreme Salve – Apply anywhere; will heal all wounds. The word “all” was underlined twice.
He put it aside, overshadowed by other more immediately gratifying objects, until the day he cut his finger deeply on a lid of canned tuna fish. Remembering the jar, he applied a bit of the salve on his cut, wrapped a band-aid around it and went on with his afternoon.
And a rather odd afternoon it was too, as if an invisible weight had been unyoked from his shoulders, as if a window had been opened in the basement of his psyche, letting in – as they say, fresh air. He was happy without knowing why; he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Jim Metzner
