Next month Sues's
More important.
Brought Him
As
Paul sat in the car, he wondered what had brought him to this
place. He was in one
of forest car parks, a place he loved, but he had no recollection of
the journey here and assumed he must have been on autopilot. He
pondered on the last few months and the events that had brought this
feeling about. Being made redundant from his job at the factory had
been a blow, as now he and Lisa had Danny they needed every penny
they could get. If the truth be known though, he had been quite
relieved when it had happened. He was a country boy at heart and had
never been comfortable working in the factory environment. He had
tried getting another job in the weeks since but had more often than
not never had a reply to his application. The tension had increased
between him and Lisa and they seemed to spend more time arguing and
disagreeing each day. This morning Lisa had informed him that she
was taking Danny and going to spend some time with her parents in the
next town and after another unsuccessful attempt at getting a job, he
had got in the car and just driven. He wondered what was the use of
trying to keep on, as things seemed to just go from bad to worse and
found himself wondering if everyone would be better off without him.
He wondered what would be the best way to end it all. He could take
an overdose, but there was no guarantee it would succeed and he could
end up a vegetable which would make things even worse. He certainly
didn’t feel he had the courage to hang himself, desperate though he
was. The only other option he could think of was to gas himself. He
could come to one of the isolated car parks and do it, but it would
have to be planned as he had no hose in the car today. The more he
thought about it, the more convinced he became it was the answer.
Suddenly
the knocking on the window brought him out of his reverie and he saw
an elderly lady standing beside the car. He wound the window down
and asked if there was something wrong. She was in quite a
distressed state and explained that she had been walking her dog,
when it had chased off after a squirrel. It must have jumped to try
and catch it and fallen awkwardly and was now unable to get up and
was crying out in pain. He quickly got out of the car and rushed
with her, following the anguished cries of the distressed animal. He
found this “Heinz” collie type dog struggling to get up to greet
its mistress. Kneeling down he gently spoke and smoothed it and with
the help of the lady picked it up and then carried it back to the
car. Insisting on taking them to the vet, he settled them in the car
and followed her instructions for the journey. Once there he waited
while they attended to the animal and as they decided to keep it in
overnight, he offered to take her home. On the way she was very
quiet, but on arriving home, she asked if he would come in for a cup
of tea. It seemed churlish to refuse, so he agreed. When they had
settled down with a drink and homemade fruitcake, she said she hoped
she had not interrupted him, as he had seemed deep in thought when
she had knocked on the window. He replied that having recently lost
his job and been unable to find another, he was trying to resolve the
problem and was thinking over the options. She asked what he had done
and on hearing that he had never really liked factory work, suggested
he could now try for something he felt comfortable with. She told
him he was obviously a caring person from the way he had dealt with
the situation he had been put in today.
On
returning to an empty house later, he thought long and hard about
what she had said and the next day made enquiries about jobs at the
local wildlife centre. He knew he would never make a fortune, but it
would be something he would enjoy and maybe he could eventually go to
agricultural college and get some qualifications. He called Lisa and
said he was coming to bring her and Danny home, but on the way called
in to find out how the dog was and thank his Good Samaritan for her
wise words and tell her what he had done.
