A Friday Smile for Annie

Another true tale from me - for Annie's Friday Smile. The image below is taken from a very precious little book of mine called 'The Story of Mr Korah' - written by Christabel Aberconway and illustrated by Rex Whistler:

And it reminds me of a chap I used to work with many years ago, called Ray who was a real practical joker and always cooking up mischief.

He lived in County Durham and told this tale about his 'courting days' with great relish on numerous occasions.

He and his 'bride to be, Celia' had been out for the evening - to the local 'hop', way back in the late 50's or early 60's. As was the custom, he escorted Celia home - and, as was also the custom, they entered her parents house in a small pit village by the back door.

She trotted up the back garden path with Ray following behind and all of a sudden - WHOOOOSH! The next thing Ray knew, a paving stone on the path tilted at 90 degrees and he disappeared from view.

What had happened was that an old mine shaft had given way and Ray just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time :( BUT, as luck would have it, he landed on water pipes that were lain about five foot or so underneath the path - otherwise goodness knows what would have been his fate.

So, there was Ray - head and shoulders sticking above ground level, shaking like a leaf with his life passing before his eyes and what did Celia do?

She only turned round, took one look at him and said 'Oh come on Ray, stop mucking about!'.

Thankfully he survived with no real injuries - except for his pride!

Di
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