Chapter 3 Candlesticks

My grandparents lived on a pretty quiet street in a nice neighbourhood in the North West quadrant of the city. Their house was one of the first ones built on their street in the early 90s. They back of their house was on a ridge with a beautiful view overlooking some neighboring communities, it was just close enough to their airport that you could watch all the planes fly into the airport, but not too close that it was too loud. They lived in a one story house with a walkout basement, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths and two offices. The house was warm and welcoming, with plush beige carpets and warm white walls and a relatively open floor plan. Every afternoon, Grandma would light a massive vanilla scented, three wick candle. The smell would waft through the house creating the coziest of feelings. After my grandpa passed, my grandma expanded her candle scent horizons to cinnamons, brown sugar, cookies and cream, and even (on the odd summer day) a tropical coconut, but she never lit another vanilla candle. One of my favourites she had bought at Bass Pro Shop, I had just got my first car and was taking her for a shopping day at a mall just outside of town. The candle was cinnamon bun scented and came in a tiny blue cup with the Bass Pro logo on the side of it. Whenever I would come over she would make sure to have it burning on the counter. From that small vignette, you may have gathered that she had a lot of candles. She did. There were candles for every occasion and I somehow had to get them all out of the house. Luckily, many of the candles were only ever used for decoration. When I started selling the bulk of the candles it was November. The holiday candles were my first priority, I spent an afternoon photographing all the candles and candle holders, making sure to capture them as best I could. Of all the candles and candle holders I had (think 20+), I only managed to sell 5. Some of the sales were great. A beautiful cast iron candle holder stand with a faux cranberry wreath surrounding it, a pair of holiday candlesticks with Santa and woodland creatures all around them and a pair of sparkly, glass snowballs that held tea lights, all went to happy customers. Other sales were not as great. A set of three gold pillar candles and a matching gold plate for them to stand on. They were never used, and still had the $50.00 price tag on their box. I was not selling them for anywhere near that price, in fact, I think they finally sold for $5. Three buyers never showed up and some other buyers graced me with questions such as:

Can u lite them first so I can see how they burn?
Can I have the candles without the plate?
Is the plate dishwasher safe?
Can I have the two tallest candles?
Do I have to light them with matches?

They eventually sold. It was uneventful. I think I ended up leaving them on the porch for a late night pickup, so either the buyer got them or a raccoon did but the buyer never complained so I’m assuming they showed. The final candle holders had a similar story. There were three of them, they were three different heights, beautiful glass candle holders that could hold smaller stick candle or a larger pillar candle. There was a lot of interest, and a lot of people wanted to come by and get them but when the time came, they never showed up and I had to relist them. Except for one buyer, who I assume was male because he sent me a dick pic on accident.

Him: Hello is this available?
Me: Yes it is!
Him: Great! When can I come get them?
Me: Sunday afternoon, between 2 and 4?
Him: Ya that’s great
Him: Come here
Him: Got something to show u
Him: sends a picture of his penis
Me: WHAT THE FUCK
Him: Oh my god I am so sorry
Him: deletes photo off chat
Him: Oh god I am so sorry that photo sent
Jessica has left the chat

Never in my life did I think that candle sticks would ever peak someone’s interest like that. To make matters worse, he never came to get the candles. Not that I blame him. I wouldn’t come buy home goods from someone I accidentally sent a dick pic to either.