“Hello,” Carl answered the phone on the first ring before he even opened his eyes.
“Hello, is this Carl who drove the supplies to the cruise ship?”
“Yes, who is this?” the sleepy Carl asked.
“Oh, sorry, this is the purser of the ship. I’m sorry to disturb you on your cell phone, but I have a little favor to ask. I asked the fellow in charge of the supplies, but he is too busy to help me. You see, we have a video night on Tuesday nights and I have been wanting to show a special video on the ship. I have looked all over netflix, hulu, u-tube and all of the other places I could think of and it is just not available. We are able to use vhs tapes or dvds, believe it or not, so if you happen to find it on either of those, that will work. The show I am looking for is called ‘Cocoon’ and it is about some old farts on a ship. I thought our over 50’s would get a hoot out of it! I wanted to show it just as soon as the supplies get here.”
Carl was awake by now and responded, “I just heard I will be driving the supply truck again this week and I will find that movie for you!”
The purser expressed his appreciation and they hung up.
Carl drove right over to his brother’s house to talk with him. He couldn’t wait to see what Donald and Jim had come up with.
Donald had invited Jim to stay with him the night before. His house was modest with a beautiful yard. There were hedges dividing his yard from the neighbors and providing some privacy. There were purple bearded irises by the mailbox and a rose garden in the backyard. A large apple tree sat on the left of the front yard and a peach tree on the right. Jim walked into the house behind Donald and got quite a fright when they walked into the living room. There was a giant polar bear standing up with his teeth bared and his claws out ready to swipe anything that came near! Except, it was stuffed! Jim walked over and admired it. Donald said, “That was my first polar bear kill. I’ll tell you the story sometime.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Donald showed Jim to the room he would be staying in and it was set up with an on suite bathroom. Jim felt like he was in the lap of luxury and enjoyed a nice soak in the tub before reappearing in the living room. Donald had ordered some supper and they had a quiet evening, watching some tv.
Jim told Donald, “I used to take food and showers and beds for granted. Well, even watching tv or sitting in a clean living room. But, I really appreciate everything now. Being homeless has brought out some good in me, I think.”
“I know what you mean, “ Donald said. “I haven’t ever been homeless, but one winter I got trapped at the lodge up in Alaska and got snowed in with ten feet of snow! I hadn’t shopped recently and was not able to get the doors open to get out of the lodge so I could hunt, so for a couple of days food was pretty sparse and I also hadn’t chopped wood and the central heating was not working, so I had to put on all of the clothes I had brought. At first I felt angry, hungry, frustrated and all out of sorts, but when I stopped to think about the situation, I decided to look for the good. I realized having the lodge was a lot more than many people had. I was out of the elements, safe from wildlife, not being snowed on, and I was actually warm enough to take off a layer of clothes once I started moving around. Being thankful lifted my spirits and made that adventure one of my favorite ones!”
“How did you happen to be all alone at a lodge?” Jim asked.
“I do outfitting and it is based out of that lodge,” Donald explained. “Normally, I have a lady there to shop and cook and clean, but she was on vacation at the time.”
They talked a while longer and went to bed. When Carl walked in the next morning, the guys were sitting at the table, eating amazing omelets that Jim had conjured up. He hopped up and made Carl one while Carl caught Donald up on his phone call from the morning.
Carl said, between bites, “I was thinking, while I am getting the launch unloaded and taking the supplies on board the ship, the two of you could be taking the old folks onto your ship, because the purser plans to put a movie on for everybody as soon as we get there. I imagine there will not be anybody noticing what we are doing, because there will be plenty of activity,
unloading the launch and lots of people going up and down the ramp. A few old people going down the ramp and into a different boat in the dark will not stand out. What do you think, Donald and Jim?”