On a cold winter day in February, I went to our local library to get a few DVD movies. I picked out several that we had not seen that sounded interesting. I wondered what would happen if a movie was waiting for just the right viewer…

THE MOVIE WATCHER
Carol returned home from the local library. She drove her car into her garage then punched the black button on her remote on the sun visor. As she got out of the car the garage door closed behind her. She carried the VD's in a small bag into the house, set them on the table then put her coat on a hanger. She put some water in the teapot, then set it on the stove and turned the heat dial. It had been a frustrating morning at the library. She looked over at the DVD’s on the table and shook her head, wondering why she had picked these particular movies that she knew nothing about.

Carol had watched many movies in the past, as the local library has a wide variety of VCR and DVD movies. She enjoyed most of the movies but today she was not motivated to watch any of them in spite of searching for a half an hour. Finally, she turned a movie box over, and then read the following description of the movie:
“A woman on vacation is inspired by a small town. So much indeed, that she writes a newspaper article for the New York Times including several pictures of the town and the beautiful lake to the west.

“Upon the article’s publication, people from around the county write to the newspaper with complimentary comments. The newspaper becomes overwhelmed by the amount of people that contact the columns contributor to learn more about this amazing little town.

“Before long, the town mentioned in the article is bustling with tourists from around the country. The tourists buy homes and the town grows. The small town resident realizes that she may have caused the small community an injustice as the town is soon over-run with tourists as well as new residents.”

“Now that sounds interesting,” she thought. Carol, ready to watch the movie, set her cup of tea on the table next to her, along with several chocolate chip cookies. When the movie was over, she cleaned the crumbs off the table, then put her cup in her sink. She was impressed by the quality of the movie, wondering why it had not been widely acclaimed by the critics.

The following day, Carol drove the short distance to Spencer City. She parked her car near the post office and then took the short walk to the marina. She walked to the end of the marina and stood staring at the lake. On a bench near her, sat another woman who was deep in thought.

“Beautiful today, huh?” remarked Carol.

“Incredible, just unbelievable, fantastic, absolutely magnificent!” exclaimed the woman as she looked straight ahead at the lake. “Do you live here?” the woman asked.

“Yes I do,” replied Carol, with a wide smile, as she sat down next to the woman. “My name is Carol Cunningham,” she said as she offered her hand to the woman.

The woman smiled back as she said, “my name is Betty Woodruff.”

Betty’s eyes went from side to side, as she watched the sailboats in the far distance and then looked up at the pure white puff of clouds that floated in the blue sky. The two women talked for a half an hour or more. Carol boasted about her little community where she was born and raised. Betty thanked Carol, telling her that her final few hours in the area would be checking out the stores and parks in town.

“You will love them all!” boasted Carol.

On a Sunday morning, just shy of a month later, Carol was buying a newspaper at Higgins, the local general store.

“Look at this!” boasted the man behind the counter. “Our little town made the New York Times.”

The man opened the paper to the article about Spencer City. Carol looked at the photos and scanned the article. At the top of the page, she read the headline,

“Hidden away is one of Americas best kept secrets, Spencer City, Michigan!” written by Betty Woodruff.

“I know her!” yelled Carol. “She was here several months ago. Wow! What a complimentary article!”

During the following month, the town became more and more crowded each week. People from every state came to see what was described as the “The best kept secret.” Boaters, fishermen and tourists crowded the streets. The marina became over run with boats. The local restaurants could not keep enough food in stock for the crowds. Weeks went by as the overwhelming amount of tourists kept coming. The local real-estate company took down all of the real-estate listings after selling every home and property listed. Carol’s friends began to shun her, giving her the blame for the article written by an outsider.

Having few friends left, Carol went to her home and became secluded due to the disaster that appeared to be her fault. It was then she remembered the movie, which she had watched several months ago about a woman who gave away the secrets of small town life, leading to the town’s downfall.