(Also for Three Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "N" is for "Nelson")
Bloggers did well with last week’s quiz; quite a number found it easy. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, as Socrates used to say. Wonder how they’ll find this week’s ?
Here’s the question. I
wrote the following, thinking that perhaps it might remind folks of a famous
movie. Which movie?
I got quite a shock when I ran into
Ron Nelson last week.
He had been one of those types who
always seemed to be both cheerful and contented. Not “I-just-won-the-lottery” cheerful;
rather, “Things-are-going-along-okay” cheerful.
But last week he was a wreck, doleful
and miserable-looking. You know the old
gag about the horse that walked into a bar and the bartender asked: “Why the
long face?”
Well, it was daunting but I felt like asking Ron that same
question. But I shouldn’t joke about it
because I knew what the problem was.
You see, Ron and his girl-friend Helen
were the perfect couple. There was not
one of the characters I hung out with that didn’t envy Ron; Helen was just
about perfect. She was beautiful, no
question about that, but she also managed to be fastidious, smart and somehow pleasant
to everyone.
Incredibly, she and Ron were to be
married in just a couple of weeks when disaster struck. Helen was killed in an accident. That happened last year but obviously Ron has
not gotten over it. I can hardly blame
him but still, it was a year ago.
When we met last week he suggested we
have a drink together; he wanted to talk.
It occurred to me that he should be talking with a professional, someone
who could be of some help, but I thought I could at least listen.
In the bar Ron ordered some of the
hard stuff, doubles, and began putting them away right off the bat. After knocking back more than a couple, he
proceeded to tell me a highly improbable story.
The conversation went something like
this:
Ron: “I saw Helen last week.”
Me: “You saw a girl who looks like
Helen?”
Ron (whose voice began to intensify with emotion as he spoke): “No, that’s what makes this all
so difficult; it was her.”
Me: “Listen, Ron, you had the greatest
relationship. It’s only natural that the
memory of that poor dead girl would always be with you.”
Ron: “You don’t get it. I knew you wouldn’t. This was no look-alike, no memory and not a
ghost either. It was Helen!”
Well, I’m afraid I wasn’t full of help
for Ron. Outside of suggesting he slack
off a bit from the booze I literally didn’t know what to say.
(Also submitted to Sunday Scribblings)
