(2) 'A Swift Departure'.

[Ken]

A long lasting friendship is the most special of gifts. Such friends have shared memories, often funny, sometimes sad. These memories can be invoked at any time and one such was recently triggered by the news that a new 'Lone Ranger' film was nearing completion. The memory that sprung to mind made me laugh out loud, it concerned two special friends, Chris and Sue Bushell, my wife Jenny and all our children. It happened in the mid eighties on a Sunday afternoon and it followed a lunch involving alcohol. We had gone for a country walk and helped, perhaps, by the alcohol,I decided my walking stick was a rifle and I would be the "Lone Ranger", Chris became "Tonto" and, having picked up a stick for his gun we set off ahead to hide in readiness for the ambush that would soon occur. The game commenced with shouts and pretend gun shots, there were yells of 'got you', followed by 'missed'. 'Bang bang you're dead', I shouted as I aimed my walking stick at Sue, and she collapsed on the ground to the kids delight. It was a wonderful afternoon and the children enjoyed it almost as much as we did. It would become a memory to treasure.

The next day was a Monday,and as I walked home in the hot early evening sun, I came upon a traffic hold up, the cars had all stopped and were lined up four deep with a long tailback. As I looked to see what was causing the hold up, I spotted towards the front, a familiar car, and sitting there with the window open was Sue. I immediately went into my cowboy mode and skilfully wormed my way through the traffic till I was beside Sue's car, reaching the open window I pointed my walking stick at her, 'bang bang you're dead', I cried, and then realised-----it was not her, it was not Sue! I can still recall the look of astonished horror on the woman's face, a strangers face, she did not see 'The Lone Ranger', just a lone nutcase!

At that moment, fate took a hand, for the traffic suddenly cleared, and the woman made the swiftest departure I have ever seen. I had no opportunity to explain or apologise, I will remain forever in her memory as a nutter, perhaps she sometimes see's me, and whispers to her friends, avoid that bloke, he's got a screw loose, I know not, all I know is the recent memory of those long ago days, made me laugh out loud!

[Ken]

This is very good.

[Ken]

This is a story of of a genuine misunderstanding which resulted in my being cast in the roll of a dangerous nut case, a role my wife says I play with remarkable ease.