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Pops Jim stayed on the outskirts of town. He had a way of finding humor in every situation, be it good or bad. Grammy Mae had long passed, but thanks to Grandpa Tom, his best friend who lived a few houses away, Pops Jim's days were less lonelier.
People always marveled at their friendship for one funny reason; Grandpa Tom was known to be a very impatient and grumpy man, and Pops Jim was a patient man who loved to poke fun at Grandpa Tom.
Once, Pops Jim slipped and fell while chasing after one of his hens that wandered off to the neighbor's yard. He sprained his left ankle and as a result it had to be supported with a cast. His neighbor felt sorry for him and decided to help him out by making him a cane out of one of her tree branches.
Since then, the walking stick has served as a great walking support and weapon for wading off strayed animals from entering his farm. And occasionally, he'd help out at Grandpa Tom's yard as well. He'd joke with us saying that if he didn't, we'd be having 'hot dogs' for breakfast. "Tom is so grumpy even the dogs would shit on his yard just to poke fun at him! Look at his face! Hah!" He'd look at Grandpa Tom and laugh heartily while Grandpa Tom rolled his eyes at him. Such was their friendship.
When Pops Jim passed away, Grandpa Tom became a changed man. He laughed lesser, spoke lesser. He lost his best friend. Days just got lonelier.
Months later, we decided to do a small birthday party for Grandpa Tom in hopes of making him happy. But as you can imagine, he sat at the corner quietly, eyes looking out of the window longingly, like he was waiting for someone.
Just before Pops Jim passed, he gathered us young ones to his home one day. He handed us a wrapped up present, instructing us to hand it to Grandpa Tom on his birthday.
As we handed the nicely wrapped present to Grandpa Tom, his eyes widened when he heard that the present was from his best friend. He opened the long rectangular box to find his best friend's walking stick and a note;
"Hey Tom, Happy Birthday ol' bean! Sorry I had to leave first, guess the party couldn't wait for me. Thanks for the friendship all these years, you've been a great friend to me and my family. Here's a present to remember me by, hope it serves you well just like it did me. Go get 'em strays! You're too old to be picking up shit! See you on the other side someday, I'll be waiting for you with your favorite tea. Love, another ol' bean, Jim."
He took out the walking stick and there were some words carved on it;
"Measuring stick for patience. Beat this!"
"Oh you ol' bean! Hahaha!"
It was the heartiest laugh we've ever heard after such a long time.
art and flair courtesy of @PegasusPhysics
