The L Plate and
the Flipper
They were abandoned with empty drinks bottles, crisp
packets, sweet wrappers, food cartons and plastic bags on scrubland by the
A3. Two items with stories to tell yet
only they knew the true one.
The imagination has many stories to tell, open ended
tales, guesswork and sheer lies lurk there and the reader soaks it all up and
lets them marinate, the meat of the words and the bones of a former life.
The L Plate now discarded in an act of triumph over an
examiners worst, was a celebratory ripping off of the vehicle and a toss to the
wind, the chance to drive those lessons to the wall, metaphorically, one would
hope. Yet maybe it was an act of despair
in failure, an announcement that never again would the learner put him or herself
through this. It was over. The shame, the jibes of friends who have
passed beyond the barrier, of a re-take, of confidence and self esteem falling
to its lowest was all too much.
Then again perhaps it was a kindly meant gesture, the
promise of lessons unasked for and left like an unwanted gift on the roadside.
Or…..it was never fixed correctly to the vehicle in the
first place and it just blew away in a gust of wind while the car kangarooed
from some roadside curb.
The L Plate is a reminder that all through life we are
learners. Lessons are sometimes easy but
the best ones are hard, uncomfortable, teeth gritting. And stories always remain with new
adventures, new things to learn. We may
discard the L Plate but we will soon acquire a new one.
The flipper – now there really is a story! Antonio Mason was the son of an Englishman
but his mother was Italian. In his early
years Antonio and his family lived along the Amalfi Coast where his father
worked as part of a team of Oceanographers from a university in London. Before he could walk Antonio could swim, his
older brother Paolo too. His mother was
proud of her ‘two little fishes’. Then when Antonio was about four the family
moved back to London. They all missed
the sea but the two boys kept up their swimming and later joined a swimming
club. As they grew they began winning
medals and cups for the club and themselves.
On reaching teenage years Paolo discovered girls and lost interest in
swimming at competition level. Antonio’s
mother put all her hopes in him and saw an Olympic swimmer in the making. Antonio, though, had other ideas. He wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps
and this he eventually did.
Years later Antonio and his father were on an expedition
together in the arctic. And this is
where you, dear reader, have a choice.
There are three potential endings to this story. Which one will you choose? Here they are:
Ending One Antonio was nearing the end of his dive
when suddenly there was a problem. His
safety line became caught on something far down in the ocean. He tugged but was unable to free
himself. He pulled the line to indicate
there was a problem and waited, still trying to free himself but to no
avail. The air in his tank was
diminishing and he began to panic. He
thought about Lulu, the girl he was going home to marry. Just a week or so, just a week or so……
Above Antonio’s father and a colleague prepared to go
down to rescue him. They had to break a
larger hole in the ice. Snow was a
blizzard. Conditions were
hazardous. By the time the two men found
Antonio it was too late. The lack of air
and the cold had got to him and he had died.
The body was flown home and Antonio’s mother, who was
utterly devastated, told her husband to throw away all Antonio’s underwater
equipment. She couldn’t bear to have it
in the house. Antonio’s father did as he
was told but kept back one flipper, a sentimental reminder of the child he has
lost. Some months later Antonio’s mother
found the flipper. Upset, she took it
with her as she drove out of London. She
was distressed and didn’t know what to do.
Her head was filled with memories of Antonio as a boy in Italy, swimming
for his club, the lovely man he had grown into.
As she drove back towards home along the A3 she suddenly pulled over,
rolled down the passenger window and threw the flipper out as far as she
could. It landed in the scrub. She rewound the window and drove home, her heart
aching with sadness.
Ending Two The expedition to the arctic was successful
but for once all Antonio could think about was Lulu – the girl he was due to
marry a week later. On his return his
friends and his brother Paolo arranged a stag night at a club in the Surrey
countryside. It was a reckless evening
with a stripper (French Maid) and lots of drinking. In fact at one point Antonio passed out. On the journey home he was vaguely aware of
movement through darkness. Later he was
removed from the car and he thought he was home. He smiled lopsidedly and tried to focus. Someone was taking off his jacket and other
clothes. Maybe he’d thrown up over
them! He went into a sort of doze. When he came to he was chained to some wooden
fencing by the side of the road in nothing but his pants and flippers. It was growing light, chilly and cars were
passing making his head ache. Antonio
heard a car stop, raised his head and saw a Police car and officers getting
out.
Eventually he was freed but as he clumsily flapped his
way to the Police car one of the flippers came off. Antonio looked behind but he was too tired
and hung over to protest. He left and
the flipper remained at the roadside.
Ending Three Antonio’s mind was not on the job. Before coming to the arctic he’d become
suspicious that his girlfriend, Lulu, was having an affair with his brother who
was married to a nice girl called Alice.
They’d not long ago had a baby boy.
Antonio had said nothing to anyone but his head was all over the place,
so much so that his father was worried.
It was risky having someone on the team whose mind wasn’t alert. One mistake could cost a life. In the end Antonio’s father ordered him to
leave and sort himself out. When the
next helicopter arrived with supplies Antonio was on it for the return flight.
As he entered his flat Antonio heard laughter coming from
the bedroom. He opened the door and
there was Lulu on the bed starkers and Paolo standing at the side wearing
nothing but a snorkel and flippers. The
surprise on the faces of the two would always stay with him. Antonio’s anger overflowed. He punched Paolo on the chin sending him
reeling into the chest of drawers before sliding to the floor.
‘Get
out,’ Antonio shouted at Lulu, ‘Get out and don’t come back.’ He threw some clothes at her and she
scrambled off the bed.
Paolo got to his feet with difficulty, treading on the
flippers and continually losing his balance.
In another situation the sight would have been funny. Paolo pulled off the snorkel and took a deep
breath.
‘It
was just a bit of fun.’ Paolo said.
‘Fun? Fun?
You call this fun?’
‘Well
it was before you came in.’
Antonio grabbed his brother by the arm and pulled him
towards the door. Lulu was in the hall
struggling into jeans as the two bundled out from the bedroom.
‘You
cheating pair of lowlifes.’
‘What
about my things?’ whinged Lulu.
‘I’ll
find them a decent home. Now go. And you,’ he prodded a finger at Paolo, ‘go
back to your wife.’
Antonio opened the front door and pushed the pair of them
out. Paolo’s foot caught in the door as
Antonio tried to close it. A flipper was
stuck in the gap. As Paolo wrenched it
free the flipper came off and Paolo fell backwards. Antonio slammed the door. He found some black sacks and put all Lulu’s
belongings into them. As he tied the
bags he saw the flipper still on the hall floor. He picked it up and stuffed it in the best he
could.
He’d intended to take the bags to a charity shop but in
his anger he threw them on to some wasteland on the A3. The bags rolled down the hill but not before
the flipper came loose in the force of the landing and detached itself from the
bag. Antonio didn’t notice as he drove
away. He was still fuming and feeling
betrayed by two people he loved.
Which ending did you pick? Which one did you like the best? Maybe you have an ending of your own. Stories wait there for the inventing. Invent one!
Please share your thoughts/alternative ending!
