The guest - a short story- Fiction - Part 2

 

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John went outside to drink his coffee on the porch like every other morning. He wondered about the stranger going outside so late the previous night, but suspected that the man might have forgotten something in his car and did not want to ask.  He could see that the stranger looked nervous again, and all the tension of the previous night was back. 

He asked Mary to bring a second cup of coffee for the man and they stood in silence, side by side drinking their coffee on the porch. 

"I need to get back to the city." The man said rather anxiously.  

"It is too early. We can use the part from my car, then you can be on your way. I will ask the mechanic to drop the part later to replace it in my vehicle."

John could see in the man's eyes that he was grateful. He helped him change the part and without any further a due the man drove off. 

The rest of the week continued as normal.  John often wondered about the stranger, but he never really expected to hear from him again.  Days turned into months and one evening about one year later John sat on the porch drinking a glass of red wine, when he saw lights coming down the road. 

They were not expecting anyone and he called Mary to come outside. It was the exact same car, like the man he helped the year before.  

"We have company Mary. Please set another place at the table." 

When the stranger got out, John saw that it was the same young man they had helped the year before. This time he looked different. He looked happy, and it did no longer look as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. 

They invited him in, but the man went back to his car to fetch a bottle of wine he had brought along for the couple. 

They all sat down at the dinner table and before they could eat the man asked if he could say something.  

"I am sure that you have helped many people in your lifetime, but that night nearly a year ago, you have saved my life, in a way that you could not even imagine. I was lost.Literally lost. I was running away from the authorities, and when my car broke down I thought that it was the end. 

I had my gun with me all the time and I wanted to take you hostage, but something prevented me. Your kindness and your sincerity had a very calming effect on me.  I went to put away the gun that same night, because I couldn't trust myself. 

When John helped me out the next morning, by giving me the part from his own car, I knew that it was a sign. I drove straight back and handed myself over to the police. I was arrested and I spent the last nine months in jail. I now have the opportunity to start a new life, and it is all thanks to you. You have opened my eyes to see the kindness in people, and somehow all the hatred and the stress I grew up with disappeared that night." 

Tears were rolling down his face, and John handed him his handkerchief. 

Mary smiled when she looked at the young man and said. 

"I have a confession to make too. It has been a difficult adjustment to live here, I missed the city, and I was about to suggest that we pack up to go back when you arrived that night. You looked so lost, and when you left the next morning a peace came over me, and your presence that night had made me realize that we were in the right place."

John poured them each a glass of red wine, and made a toast.

"Here is to being at the right place in the right time." 

-The end-

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