Calgary, March 2023
I was sitting in my room, writing a story. It was late in the evening, the house was quiet, I was absorbed in the narrative, and suddenly a sound of a doorbell interrupted me. When I opened the door, I saw an angry looking man standing there. “I am John, we know each other,” he said. I didn’t recognise him and was wandering what it is all about.
“Can I help you?”
“You certainly can. Will you let me in?”
I took him to the dining room, we sat down, and he reproached me:
“You don’t recognise me, do you? I am John from your stories, and you always make me suffer. In your first story you made me to shower with Diana to save hot water, and when my wife Mary caught us, she almost threw me out of the house. Then you found a lover for Mary and that hurt me a lot. I love my wife, you know?”
“But in my last story Mary and you made up and went happily to bed together.”
“Yes, but that was only for one night and who knows what more you have in store for me. Even worse, you read your stories to your friends and I look like a fool. I don’t want to suffer any more, you know?”
“OK. In my next story I will make you and Mary very happy. Just like in Hollywood fairy tales.”
“That would be a nice change. I am looking forward to that.”
John left and I was faced with writing a happy story for him. So here it is, I hope he will like it.
It was a nice sunny morning when John woke up. Mary was still sleeping beside him, and John was happy their marriage crisis was over. Last night John confronted Mary about her lover, and she retaliated with his affair with Diana. But then they decided to forget all about it and to start a new, happy life together.
“That calls for celebration,” said John when Mary woke up.
“What calls for celebration?”
“Our new life. We should celebrate it by having a nice holiday.”
Mary agreed, but John still wanted to save the world, and since flying is bad for environment, they decided on a car camping holiday. They will take their old little Honda, find a nice beach by the lake, put up the tent and pass the days swimming, drinking wine, enjoying the nature and also enjoying each other. John looked at the map and found just a place they were looking for. I must add that all that happened a long time ago, when things like that were still possible.
When they arrived, it was sunny and hot. They found a nice camping spot, parked the car, put on their swimsuits, and went shimming. The water was warm, the beach was nice, and it was a perfect start of a holiday. Finally, they decided to set up the camp.
“Where are the keys?” asked John.
“You have them, you were driving.”
“I don’t have them.”
They looked at each other, then they went to the car and saw the keys on the dashboard. John tried to open the door, but it was locked.
“Why did you lock it?” asked Mary.
“You asked me to lock it.”
They were standing there in their wet swimsuits, watching the keys, ready to blame each other. But I promised a happy story, so here it goes. The driver’s window was slightly open, John found a stick and fished out the keys. Mary was so happy that she forgot to blame him. They put up the tent and drove to the close by village to have a dinner.
The rest of the holiday went as planned. They spent days swimming, drinking wine and enjoying each other. Now I only hope that John will read the story, will like it, and will forgive me all the suffering I have put him through.