Member-only story
Jaspar’s Writing Gig
Selling stories on the freeway on-ramp
Jaspar’s life changed when he changed his gig. His original gig was selling oranges on the freeway on-ramp during rush hour. The vehicles entering the freeway at that time were always backed up. When drivers saw that box of bright orange oranges on its side and a man with an orange in each hand and a sign around his neck that read, Oranges $1, it was just too easy to stick a dollar bill out the car window and buy an orange.
On a good day Jaspar could make between twenty and thirty dollars in profits. That may not sound like much but it is more than what most writers make. Sure, he had to haul a heavy case of oranges to work each day but he only worked two to three hours each day. If it was a good day he went home with an empty case and around thirty bucks of profit in his pocket. That’s close to ten bucks an hour; more than what most fast-food workers make.
Jaspar lived in a shed over by the railroad tracks. He paid no rent. The owner of the shed let him live there in exchange for a couple of oranges each week and the promise that Jaspar would not reveal the living arrangement to the authorities.
Atop the shed Jaspar placed one lone solar panel which was wired to a battery inside the shed. While he was out selling oranges during the day the battery was filling up with…
