When I met a Stranger

When I Met a Stranger

At last, Spring had arrived in East Sussex.  It had been a long hard winter and not being able to get out for any length of time had taken it’s toll on Rachel.  Her little daughter Alice, although the light of her life, was a typical energetic eight year old and living in a rented flat was not ideal.  Rachel had met her late husband Richard in London when they both worked in the same building.  She liked his cheeky smile and bright blue eyes.  He was such fun and they spent many happy hours together talking and laughing.  He ran a travel company and travelled all over the World and Rachel was able to accompany him on many of his trips.  He was from Yorkshire and had a lovely lilt to his voice.  His business failed and they struggled financially so had to sell their house to pay back his creditors.  This was a blow to both Richard and Rachel but they had each other so they stoically dealt with the situation.  With the birth of Alice, they considered themselves lucky indeed.  Richard died suddenly three years after Alice was born and left her without any financial support so she had to work part time to cover their living costs.  She did not have any family of her own so her life revolved around Alice.  Richard’s Mother and Father had died before she met him so she sometimes felt really lonely. She worked as an administrator in a Forest Row primary school for three days a week so she was able to take Alice to school and collect her again when she finished work.

It was a sunny Wednesday afternoon.  Rachel and Alice left school and walked to their local park.  They sat on a bench opposite the large lake where several ducks were swimming around.  Alice was running around the bench chattering away to herself and Rachel was happy just staring into space.  An elderly man sat next to her on the bench.  He was very thin and looked like he could do with a decent meal.  He introduced himself as Walter Taylor.  He said he lived at the local retirement village called Paradisio and that he loved to come to the park and watch the wildlife on the lake.  He told Rachel he had been married for 60 years and his wife had died some years before.  He had a nice smile and twinkling blue eyes.  He was very interested in Rachel and Alice and asked many questions about their life.  Alice was sometimes reticient to speak to strangers but she took to Walter straight away.

They parted company as the sun went down and Walter said he hoped to meet them again.  A few days later, Rachel and Alice took another trip to the park and there was Walter looking out over the lake.  Rachel hoped they would see him again and had taken some cupcakes and a flask of tea.  Walter was thrilled that she had taken the trouble to bring refreshments.  They chattered for a long time and Alice took a real liking to Walter and sat on his knee while he told her a fairy story.  He was completey natural with her and Rachel thought how sad it was that Alice’s father would not experience her growing up.

Meeting Walter at the park became a regular occasion which went on throughout the long Spring days.  Walter loved to help Alice to read and many hours were spent reading about Peter Rabbit, Hanzel & Gretel and the Wizard of Oz.  As she told Walter all about her life with Richard, Rachel grew very fond of Walter and invited him to have lunch with them on the following Friday afternoon.  She said she would make him a shepherds pie which he had indicated was his favourite.

They met in the park on the next Friday and they all walked back to Rachel’s flat. Alice was hand in hand with Walter and he was pretending that she had to pull him along because he was so old.  He had brought some fruit cake and stilton cheese with him as a contribution.  “Strange choice” Rachel thought until Walter explained that it was a Northern thing to eat cake and cheese together.  This sparked a distant memory of Richard mentioning this sometime in the past.

Before sitting down to a hearty meal they played charades which Alice loved and Walter joined in with gusto. Rachel had to admit that the cake and cheese did go together really well.  Alice did not agree however and made a face when trying a little of it.

When it was time for Walter to leave he said to Rachel, “I wonder if you would do something for me?”.  Rachel replied, “Of course, what can I do for you?”.  “Well”, said Walter, “I have never bought a Lottery ticket and I thought I would have a go.  If I gave you £10, would you buy me the equivalent in Lottery tickets?”.  “Of course” Rachel replied as Walter gave her the money and then whispered in Alice’s ear “This ticket is for you, Mummy and the other poor things”.  Alice did not really understand what he meant but kissed him on the cheek and gave him a hug.  He was thrilled and then made his way to the front door.  Rachel and Alice waved as he walked down the road.  A neighbour walked by and, seeing them waving, waved back.

Rachel walked to the local newsagent which was run by Mr Khan to purchase the Lottery ticket.  “Hello, Mrs Wilson, what can I do for you?”.  “I want to spend £10 on the Lottery please Mr Khan”.  “My word”, he said, “Not like you to throw money around, knowing how tough it is for you”.  Rachel thought, “None of your business nosy parker”.  She took the ticket home with her and placed it on the mantelpiece behind the clock, the electricity bill, the TV licence renewal and the rent book.

Saturday came and it rained all day.  Rachel and Alice played card games, read and watched television.  Sunday was the same and they were both getting restless.  Rachel had forgotten all about the Lottery ticket until Monday morning when she thought about paying the electricity bill and saw it poking out behind.  She decided to take it to Mr Khan’s newspaper shop so he could check it for her.  “Hello, Mrs Wilson, have you come to collect your winnings, ha ha ha” Mr Khan sarcastically said.  He ran the ticket through his machine and then rushed to the back room, picked up a chair and brought it through to the shop.  “Sit down Mrs Wilson” he said.  “Why do I need to do that?” she said but sat down all the same.  “Your ticket is the winning Lottery ticket” he said.  “What!  Can’t be.  How much is it?”.  “You have won £2.4 million” Mr Khan said.  Rachel almost fainted.  “What do I have to do now” she said.  “Take the ticket, put it in a very safe place and call the number on the ticket” he said “but don’t forget to tell them where you bought it”.

Rachel was in a complete daze.  She didn’t know how she got home and as she entered her flat it occurred to her that the ticket was not hers but belonged to Walter so it should be Walter that claimed the money.  Alice spotted her putting the ticket behind the clock on the mantelpiece and said “Mummy, Uncle Walter told me that the ticket was for you and me and other poor things”.  “When did he tell you that” Rachel asked.  “When he was here last time” Alice replied.  “Before he went back to paradise”.  Rachel did not take much notice of what Alice said as she thought she was mixing it up with the name of Walter’s home being Paradisio.  She busied herself with household things but her mind kept wandering to the last time she saw Walter.  “I’ll get it all sorted out tomorrow” she thought.

The next day Rachel dropped Alice off at school and, as she was not working that day, she made her way to Paradisio to find Walter.  The very nice lady on the Reception desk smiled as she entered.  “I have come to see Walter Taylor” Rachel told her.  The lady looked at her in a strange way.  “What flat is he in?” Rachel continued.  “My dear” the lady said “Walter Taylor died three years ago, the day after his wife”.  “Not possible” said Rachel.  “I was there with him, I held his hand when he passed over.  He had such a smile on his face, completely at peace.” the receptionist said.  “He was such a lovely man.  He was always helping people.  He didn’t have any family so he left his considerable sum of money to those in need in his community.  He was such an angel.”  Rachel was in shock.  She didn’t know what to do.  She collected Alice from school and tried to explain to her what had happened.  “Oh yes Mummy, I know all about Walter, he was an angel and you know that angels can do whatever they want.  They can even eat cake and cheese, yuk”.

Rachel had no idea if this was real or if she had woken up from a dream.  She sat in a daze for a long time when Alice shook her and handed her a white feather.  “Where did you find that Alice?”  “It was on the floor next to my bed.  I don’t know how it got there but I think Daddy sent it” Alice said, “I also think Uncle Walter was sent by Daddy to look after us”.  Rachel hugged Alice and thought sadly “Why couldn’t Daddy send himself.  Maybe heaven doesn’t work that way”.

Rachel decided she would deal with the Lottery win in the way that Walter would want her to, so, after providing a nice home for her and Alice, she set up a trust in Walter’s name and gave away most of the lottery winnings to those in need in their community (the other poor things).

Susanne Jones