Silk-Shirt Store (USA): The Folk-Tale

An American short about an unusual commerical 'detour' involving a crazy man, a successful entrepreneur, and modern deeds.

An American folk-tale of very unusual proportion about commerce/media gone personal, inspired loosely by The Insider (Russell Crowe). Enjoy! 

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America's enduring much since 9/11, and this 20th-anniversary year reminds us of the resilience through the great Coronavirus tribulation. This is a time of ironic folklore in the great United States...and art (and mysteries!).

Amlan Satan is the owner/operator of a grand silk men's dress-shirt store in Boston (New England), Venture, and is considered one of the finest conoisseurs of silk fabrics/prints/designs for avant-garde men's shirt-fashions/clothing in North America or America. In fact, Venture is considered the under-marketed 'secret' of Boston and is likened to the iconic 1990s some-time successful men's clothing chain Structure.

AMLAN: I believe Venture offers the American consumer a special silky-men's confidence we need in these worrisome times!

Venture is so successful that people begin to equate it, in general, with the quality/face of American capitalism itself and the splendor of New England (Boston) flavor/color. The men's silk-shirts Venture offers present designs/fabrics Satan (Amlan) collects/orders/manages from around the world and markets them through professional American clothing-industry middle-men/companies to erect a rather terrific North Amerian men's silk-shirt fashions outpost for fellas simply looking for colored shirt-silk designs re-presenting an American sense of male dollars.

NEW ENGLAND FASHION (Fanzine!): These men's silk-shirt designs/fashions at Venture reflect a nifty modern dollar-trend!

AMLAN: I'm so pleased Venture receives rave-reviews among fashion-critics, because our silk-shirt designs are superior!

It's no surprise then that Venture has become an American 'lighthouse' and reflective of sociocultural successes, surpassing the likes of 'Structure' in under-currents of men's fashion daydreams and couture, catering to men of all backgrounds/preferences and offering designs/fabrics that really please the eye, wallet, mouth, and society too. This is all thanks to the selection-acumen of its manager Amlan, who prides himself over the marketing in media of these unusual/decorative shirt-designs/colors.

CONSUMER (Boston Shopper/Customer): I think, to me, Venture represents male joys of capitalism/fashion without pretense.

Then, one month, a deranged terrorist begins to stalk the Venture owner-celebrity of New England (Boston), Amlan Satan, claiming that he'd become the American equivalent of Pablo Picasso and that he demands that Amlan Satan meet with him and become buddies/pals with him in a cool social area like a billiards-club or pub. The terrorist always sends Amlan emails/face-shots by cyber-messaging while dressed in suit-mask, claiming that he's Amlan's personal 'false-prophet' of capitalism-friendship and 'needs' to become his special angel of the United States.

AMLAN: Why the hell are you following me in this area, psycho?
TERRORIST: Forget it, Mr. Capital, I'm your private angel of America!
AMLAN: What the hell do you want from me, weird stranger?
TERRORIST: I'm no stranger, Satan; I'm your godsend about consumerism/media!
AMLAN: What the hell do you think I'm trying to achieve in New England, crazy?
TERRORIST: You want special media-coverage, and I can offer you special folklore!
AMLAN: You want to 'hype' Venture by creating deranged media about your obsession with me?
TERRORIST: Why not, Satan?
AMLAN: Because, good sir; this is country of sane commercialists; not media-crazies.
TERRORIST: Really?
AMLAN: What the hell do you think Christmastime-consumerism is all about, Mr. Crazy?
TERRORIST: Well, Satan; it seems to me it's just about...dollars and sense.
AMLAN: True, and so, you wish to become my media-stalker for some kind of messaging-craze?
TERRORIST: Why not?
AMLAN: Because this is reminiscent of the Unabomber, man!
TERRORIST: No, it's not, Mr. Satan.
AMLAN: I doubt that, you terrorist.
TERRORIST: I'm not a crazy; I'm merely an apathy-terrorist, Satan.
AMLAN: Look, all I can do is offer a Boston editorial about the 'fun' nature of this sort of media-hype.
TERRORIST: It'll help hype your Venture store, right?
AMLAN: Right.
TERRORIST: Well, perhaps we're learning something 'together' about Boston press/dimension.
AMLAN: I suppose that's a tangible 'folk-tale' if you consider the color of Boston readership!
TERRORIST: America's all about 'inventive' capitalism/media, Satan.
AMLAN: Right; well, I suppose I can with you improved fortunes in journalism-hunting, Mr. Psycho.
TERRORIST: I suppose Boston journalism will always honor some form of American...dreams!
AMLAN: I suppose I should tell you I hope they don't portray you as a 'design' terrorist.

Amlan's wife is shocked, as she continues her distancing fashion-model career for Dior-Eastern and tells the press in a public interview, "I believe my good husband, the excellent manager of Venture, is part of some modern American 'enterprise' affording him that 'extra-magic chance' to use his platform of success to create more surefire messages about the 'duty' (or honor!) required of every good American businessman to re-present national/cultural sanity through the lens of dollars."

AMLAN SATAN: I think I'll take some time off now to read one of my favorite books, an exercise in 'detective' relaxation.

This is a story of a stalker, a businessman, and an American city caught up in very unusual modern folklore surrounding the odd human sense of eccentricity regarding the spiked and unpredictable nature of media, marketing, psychology, and of course, great detention.

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"Money is everything" (Ecclesiastes)