Ten of us at Joan's house met up for our monthly story telling. General opinion our stories are improving - could be vanity.
Joan being the host kicked off all about chasing a hat that fell in a river that turned out not to be the hat it was thought to be. Ann story was about aliens from space with their flying saucer and memory loss. John told us about a two timing husband who got his comeuppance what ever that is. Sheila, memories of a better time. Brian played poo sticks. Pat all about Radio Four and very classical music. Joan told of Mark losing his lego man. I wrote about my past as sleepily remembered.
Two winners Sue And Sally.
Sue's first
DRIFT WITH …’
How had the row started, he wondered? They’d enjoyed their walk along the wild shore, the only activity they could afford as he was now out of work. He supposed Janice was fed up with the gloomy prospects as her eagerly anticipated wedding day now seemed further away than ever. The row had started over nothing really. He could tell she was worried about the future and not happy at the idea of continuing to work in that dead-end job of hers, so she kept on about him having left his job in the docks. No matter how he tried to explain that the owner had a bad reputation as an employer and there were rumours of dodgy deals, she had been adamant that at least he would be working.
Now he was angrily shouldering his way along the pavement, glowering at everyone in his path, when he noticed the sign over a building in front of him - Recruiting Office - and before he could really stop and think, he found himself inside. In no time, it seemed, he had signed up and was a member of Her Majesty’s forces. He’d always wanted a life of adventure; anything to get away from his humdrum life and make something of himself.
He went round to see Janice that evening, full of his news, expecting her to be as excited as he was at the prospect of a good wage coming in and the chance of learning a trade. Janice’s face was stony when she answered the door and said sulkily, “You’d better come in, I suppose.” He followed her into her Mum’s tiny kitchen and greeted Mrs Jones cheerfully before sitting down at the table. Mrs Jones folded her arms and gave a cold, “Evening” in return. Janice said, “I suppose you want a cup of tea?” “Oh, ta love, that’ll be grand”, Rob said enthusiastically.
Once he had his tea in front of him, he continued stirring it round and round in the cup, suddenly nervous at what he was about to say. He realised it would come as a bit of a bombshell and Janice might not think it was an ideal solution to their problems. “Well, here goes”, he thought and launched into the events of the afternoon, ending, “I’m off to barracks at the end of the month for basic training, then maybe I’ll be able to learn a trade. It’s a grand opportunity.”
Janice’s face had drained of colour as he had been speaking and now a flush spread slowly up her neck and she leapt up from the chair, shouting, “You crazy fool; what did you go and do that for? I don’t want you gallivanting all over the place, never having a life of your own, being told when you can come home or when you can’t.” No matter how much Rob explained they could still marry and live in married quarters, Janice stubbornly refused to entertain the idea of becoming an Army wife. In the end, she opened the door and said, “You’d better leave now – and don’t come back. You’ve ruined everything.”
Before he knew it, Rob was out on the street once again, so he hunched his shoulders and turned miserably for home in the fine drizzle. On the way, he tried to analyse his feelings and suddenly realised he was not devastated by Janice breaking off their engagement; in fact, there was an overwhelming feeling of relief and he continued to walk along the wet pavements, deep in thought. He came to realise during those long hours of walking and thinking, that he had been content to drift with the flow of his colourless job and his relationship with Janice ever since they had been going steady – and how had that happened anyway? He had met her at a dance and she had been waiting at the dock gates the next day, eager to pursue their relationship. He was an easy-going sort of bloke, he supposed, so he just went along with her plans, suddenly finding himself engaged to be married. As he turned in at his gate, he felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he climbed the stairs to bed with a wonderful tingling feeling of anticipation at what the future might hold.
That had been a couple of years ago now, he thought, as he waited patiently in the queue of men disembarking from the troop plane. He’d done his basic training and been lucky enough to train as a mechanic on Army vehicles before being posted abroad. Now he was home on leave and looking forward to seeing his folks again.
He came to the exit at last where there was quite a crowd of relatives and friends waiting. Young Mums with their children, eagerly scanning faces to see who could spot Daddy first, older parents anxiously looking for young sons back from their first tour of duty – and there were his parents, waving excitedly as he made his way eagerly towards them. And of course, there she was too, her warm, infectious smile enfolding him and giving him that well-remembered feeling that he was the most important person in the world. Funny, he’d felt like that ever since he’d seen Mary across the canteen at the base, soon after he’d arrived. She’d looked so smart and pretty in her uniform and she’d helped and encouraged him ever since. They’d got married just before he’d gone overseas six months ago and as he wrapped his arms round her he knew he was really home at last.
Drift With
I was all alone in the world until I found the dirty green bottle that was to change my life, it had become imbedded in the mud at the edge of the estuary. At the time, the tide was on the turn and coming in fast. I was searching for something, anything really, that could be of interest and be useful to me. I saw a plank of wood drift with the swirling tide, if lady luck was on my side it would be washed up on the beach later. It would prove very useful for my home in the cave. The tide crashed over the rocks thundering with strength and power urging the seagulls flying overhead to scream with their excited eerie cries as they swooped into the waves below, in their quest for food. I glanced again at the green bottle and watched the water curl around it, moving it ever so slightly. Something compelled me to step into the mud and retrieve the bottle before it was lost forever. The mud sucked around my feet and ankles, making it difficult to move. I grabbed the bottle and luckily I was not too far from the shore and I managed to crawl onto the rough bank.
I lay there gasping and wondered what kind of fool I was by putting myself at risk.
I rubbed the bottle expecting a Genie to pop out and change my life. “Some hope“, I thought. So then I strolled over to a rock pool and rinsed the bottle clean. “My God!” There was a note inside. I was wild with excitement as I made my way over to the cave. Once inside I sat on my makeshift seat made out of an old wooden crate and began my examination of the bottle which was well sealed and it took a little while to remove all the wrappings. The note would not come through the neck of the bottle, a voice in my head said “Smash it, smash the bottle but somehow I did not want to. Looking in my collection of handy oddments that I had found while beach combing I took out a piece of wire with a thin hooked end made out of an old wire coat hanger and gently retrieved the note.
It read: To whom it may concern please obey these instructions as they will be to your benefit.
1. Please note the date and time and place where you found this bottle.
2. Please ring the following telephone number without delay and
a substantial sum of money could be yours.
Reverse the charge to:-01 23106976.
P.S If you did not break the bottle there could be a bonus for you.
This is bound to be a hoax I thought but nevertheless I went to my makeshift calendar scratched on the cave wall. It was June the 20th 2011. Then I read the time by the sundial. This was a contraption made from bits and pieces. It was almost noon and the sun was high in the sky.
My thoughts were racing. I loved my hermit like lifestyle. It was all that I had known for the past two years after living on the streets and sleeping in shop doorways, penniless alone and afraid. I had taken to the roads as a tramp and lived out of dustbins that stood outside the back of roadside cafes. I asked the owners for work, some chased me off their premises but others gave me handouts, an old coat or a pair of boots. On cold days
a hot pie or some soup was thrust into my hand and a word or two like “ Keep moving on mate you’ll scare the customers.”
Eventually I had found my way to the sea, I remember the thrill of my first sighting and the roar of the ever moving waves, the splendour of the bleak coastline with its jagged rocks and the rock pools.
There were notices along the coast that said UNSAFE FOR SWIMMING that was because of the river that flowed into the sea causing severe currents as the two forces met only to be appeased by the receding tides.
I looked around the beach there was no-one in sight so I had stripped off and bathed in a rock pool . I felt invigorated, and my spirit was renewed as nature had caressed my body and the sun had warmed and dried me.
I gazed around in wonderment. Then I saw the cave that has been my haven for the last two happy years.
But it was time to move on. I knew of a telephone box about two miles up the road towards the next village. The two miles seemed never ending and eventually I had arrived. I picked up the telephone and rang the number and a voice replied, “Brown and Son Solicitors“. I have found a green bottle I replied. The receptionist screamed in delight “Someone has found the bottle”
It wasn’t a hoax after all because two gambling millionaires had launched the bottle from a bridge in Scotland. In order to win the bet Nigel had bet his friend Glen that it would be found whole. Glen had stipulated it had to be found within a certain time period of 2 years. This was registered with a Solicitor at the time. There was only six weeks to go before I had found it.
The receptionist said, “Let me know your address and we will send a car for you to come and claim your prize.
I replied. “I am John Wheeler and I live at Sea View, Haven Crest Road, near the mouth of the river Haven and the village of Haven Crest. make your way down to the beach I am the only one on the block“.
