Fate plays games and has
fun. Or so it seems, Tommy thought.
He had
wondered about this many times before. As though a destiny path is written at
the start of life. Here he was doing the mundane task of digging a hole for a
fencepost in the garden of his childhood when he experienced a wondrous moment.
This was a very hot day 50 years on in his life. The noonday sun was directly
overhead in an azure blue sky and he was sensibly wearing a cotton T-shirt to
protect himself from the burning heat.
As he
moved the dull pebbles and stones in the dry earth to create his hole there was
a sudden flash of light that almost blinded him. The sun had struck a silver surface.
Metal amongst the stones. And in that instant he felt complete. Childhood to
adulthood and back to childhood had come full circle. They really do all
co-exist in the same moment.
Tommy
realised that in the flash of light. In that moment. This gave him an almost
overwhelming emotion of rediscovery as he became aware of the new sense of
value created from such a trivial item he had long forgotten even existed. The
revelation was almost magical. As a child he had understood he was not supposed
to have the penknife though he never did understand the reasons. The blade was
sharp and pointed, but he was careful wasn't he? Anyway, the garden was a good
place to hide it.
This
penknife had remained hidden to all eyes. Buried in the garden for all those 40
or so years since he was about 10 years old. A treasure from his childhood
waiting to be found by the very one who had placed it there all those years
before.
Louis Brothnias 2004