Her February Melon Feast.

It was one of these chilly, mysterious Februaries. Katherine had taken the day off from her copywriting job to look after Stuart, her husband, who had woken up with a bleeding nose.

– Is there anything I can get you from the mall, darling?

– Oh, yes, yes, indeed! I want a full size ripe Melon, not too soft and dark green, heavy, heavy, very heavy, please don’t hurt your back while carrying it back home….

A picture of the ghost of Stuart’s younger sister Lilly was just there by his night table.

Kath couldn’t stand it, for Stuart always said what he liked the most about her was her resemblance with Lilly. But secretly enough, what Katherine liked most about Stuart was that he reminded him of her first boss, who she had a crush on at age 16. She kept this for herself though.

Lilly had been lurred into a Cult twenty years ago, not leaving a trace behind her. Every single detective in London had been hired to find her somewhere with no success whatsoever, and Stuart always had teary eyes when she was mentioned.

So off went Katherine to get the Melon, after asking,

– You are not suffering an imaginary male pregnancy, are you?

– If I am pregnant, it is with Melon seeds!

Katherine laughed her way to get the trolley, a little uncomfortable about leaving Stuart alone with a nosebleed, but well determined to get him a Melon. The best Melon!

She knew it wouldn’t be easy in the middle of February.

Once she got to the supermarket, she asked the clerk for the Melon section. He laughed at her.

– We are fighting climate change, but we can’t reverse the natural yearly seasons! Please come back in June for as many melons you can fit into your trolly. And by the way, Madame, you have blood on your sleeve….

A young worker at the queue, who had heard the conversation, approached Kath and said

– I know a place where you can get a Melon. It’s an all season fruit dealer which will charge you a small fortune, buy you’ll get a nice little Melon from the other side of the globe. It’s the first street to the right from King’s Road.

– Oh, thank you so! That’s really kind if you. I’ll go there straightaway. It’s for my husband who has a nosebleed and for some occult biological reason he’s craving a lovely Melon right now. Have a great day!

Our lady didn’t live far from the Kings Road, just 5 bus stops away.

Luckily she had lots if cash in her purse, for the fruit dealer, who was adorable, charged her 27 pounds. But the Melon…. oh, the Melon! It was so heavy! She thought she’d have a Melon feast with Stuart, away from the picture of Lilly.

Once on the bus a group of tourists boarded it, and it was stuffy, uncomfortable, and the female driver was driving like a psycho. The tourists seemed to enjoy the bumpy ride, but not Katherine.

We were only two stops away from hers when she realised her trolly was missing…. somebody had taken it!

Hard economic Times this was, lucky she was well off, by why did she have to through this mighty inconvenience? Her poor husband and his nosebleed, and the expensive heavy Melon from the South!

She went straight to the driver and told her her trolly had gone missing, that she suspected from 2 young unwashed teenagers, that she ought to drive to the police to report this.

But what was her surprise once the driver looked at her with amusement, when she realised the driver was the spitting image of Lilly, her husband’s missing sister!!!!

– Wait a minute…. is your name Lilly, by any chance?

Lilly pulled the brakes full stop. She was confused.

– Who are you?

– I’m your sister in law, your family has been searching for you for decades! Stuart keeps saying I remind him of you, but I actually drive more carefully than this!

The tourists got of the bus and the bus was left empty and weird.

-So you know my story, don’t you?

– I do, said Katherine. Park the bus, dump it there, and come home with me. But first we need to buy a Melon for Stuart.

Stuart had been calling but Kath’s phone was left on silence by mistake.

Lilly left a note on the bus front stating “personal emergency ” and couldn’t take her eyes off the bus- she almost walked into a lampost, and off they went to the fruit dealer. He was shutting his shop but agreed for the last melons to be taken.

Katherine carried one, and Lilly, the other.

Katherine was pleasantly surprised about how sweet Lilly appeared to be, telling her her story about how she escaped from the Indian Yogi cult and how she was on the witness protection scheme now.

They got used to carrying the melons, Katherine would have liked to spend a week talking to this sweet girl, even if she were to lose her job, and soon they were at home.

– You go first, said Kath.

– OKAY!

Lilly entered the main bedroom hesitantly with tears in her eyes.

– Stuart?

– Who’s that? I got blood up my eyes, you sound like Lilly! I must certainly be pregnant, Kath!

Kath removed the water from his eyes and there was Lilly, dressed as a bus driver, fit, yet chubby, with rosey cheeks and a smile that hadn’t changed….. offering him a Melon!

– Oh my goodness Kath, oh my goodness… tell me I am not dreaming! Stuart pinched his own cheeks to check he was not dreaming, and jumped out of bed to give Lilly a very sweet and aggressive squeeze, letting the Melon drop onto the floor and roll down the stairs…..

-Listen Lilly, you owe me a truck of melons over detective charges! Sit down and let it all out….

The End.