No Fear!

The ladies found him endearing and assured him that they fully agreed. He thanked them for the tea, and looked toward the bamboo railing, his lifeline to reaching the top. “Ok, without ado, I’m off. Again, I thank you for your kindness, and I wish you both a good rest of the day.” With one hand on his tea, and the other gripped around the rail, he slowly took on the stairs. He reached the top after what seemed to be minutes, and stood, looking into the eyes that had waited for his entrance, the eyes of the two doctors. Mickey knew in an instant that this was no mistake. He knew that in spite of his foggy head, his body was working overtime to lead him to something important.

“What a wonderful surprise,” The angel pulled up a chair and sat with them. “Did you boys walk here? I’m telling you, I did and it’s worked up an appetite you wouldn’t believe. This is a little embarrassing, but I didn’t expect this to happen. Could you cover me for a meal? I assure you that I can repay you once we get back to the hotel.”

Paul was the one to respond, “I’m not really very hungry, Mickey. Help me with this shrimp. In fact, just take my plate.” He carefully picked up the warm plate by its edges and moved it to Mickey’s placemat.

“You are very kind, in deed. Thank you, Doctor.” The smell made him want to gobble it up, so it took great restraint to eat slowly as he would have done when trying to charm a female date. “Oh, this is good. I’m not quite sure if I’ll ever be able to enjoy shrimp in the states again. What do you boys think? Is it the way it’s cooked or is it the fact that we are charmed by this paradise?”

Mickey didn’t worry about the absence of communication because his first priority was to take care of his hunger pains. When he finished, he asked if they were thinking about hiring a ride back to the hotel.

Paul, who wanted nothing more than to spend some time alone couldn’t stop himself. “Of course we are, and we insist that you join us. Enough walking for the old man today, don’t you think, Jeremy?”

Jeremy hadn’t said one word since Mickey’s entrance, but nodded, and after paying the bill, they helped Mickey down the stairs, and pointed to where the taxis waited for people like them, people who’d had enough walking for one day.