Precious

It had been a hard day at work. Jason, trudged home, feeling despondent, his boss annoyed him constantly. But he needed the money to pay the mortgage. The only way of paying off the mortgage is to have more money coming in. Jason passed a public house, and he thought shall I have a swift half. It will set me up for tonight.

Why not? Jason opened the public house door and walked in. It is quiet, with a few drinkers enjoying a swift drink before going home to the family. The wife complaining that he smelt of drink, the kids needing a bath, then reading them a story. Jason did not have a wife yet, but he had several near escapes.

‘Evening,’ said the barman, ‘what can I tempt you with tonight, Jason?’

‘Oh, just my usual please,’ replied Jason.

‘Half a pint of lager coming up.’

The barman took a glass from under the counter and pulled a half pint of lager.

‘Thank you,’ said Jason handing the barman a five-pound note.

The barman rang up the sale on the till and passed the change back to Jason.

‘There is a guy in here tonight who is trying to sell magic jewels. They certainly sparkle, but I doubt very much that they are magic,’ laughed the barman.

‘Thank you for the warning,’ said Jason. ‘I have better things to spend my money on.’

Jason picked up his half a pint and went and sat at a table by himself. He took a sip of his drink, shut his eyes, and let himself relax. He picked up his drink again when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked around to see an old man with a walking stick, long white hair, and a white beard.

Ah, Gandalf from Lord of the Rings thought Jason.

Before the old man could speak, Jason asked ‘where is Gollum?

The old man stared at Jason and said, ‘we wants it, we needs it. Must have precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbits.’

‘You must be a great fan of Lord of the Rings?’ said Jason.

         ‘I am,’ replied the old man, I have read all of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien’s books, they are my favourite bedtime reading.’

         ‘I am reading the Hobbit at the moment, and I must admit I am hooked,’ replied Jason.

         ‘Can I sit down with you?’ asked the old man.

         ‘Yes, please do, would you like a drink?’ asked Jason.

         ‘A glass of water, with ice and lemon, would be just wonderful,’ replied the old man.

Jason went to the bar, got the old man his drink, and bought himself another half pint. Brought them back to the table and gave the old man his drink.

         ‘You are so kind,’ said the old man.

         ‘Oh, it’s nothing, said Jason, taking a sip of his drink.

         ‘Cheers,’ said the old man holding up his glass of water, and clicking glasses with Jason.

They sat quietly for a few minutes. Then the old man said, ‘You have been so kind to me I want to offer you my precious stone, not a ring as in the Lord of the Rings.’

Having heard the barman warn him about this, Jason just smiled, what harm could a stone from an old man do. It is probably glass anyway. I will just humour him and make his day.

         ‘Thank you I would be very grateful for your stone.’

The old man rummaged in his old jacket and pulled out a small bag from his inside pocket. He stroked the bag.

         ‘Here you are, here is my precious, treat it well and it will do amazing things,’ said the old man.

Jason smiled nicely at the old man as he handed over the small bag. The bag looked very light, but in his hand, it felt very heavy. Jason put it into his inside pocket of his jacket.

         ‘Thank you,’ said Jason, ‘what is so precious about the stone?’

         ‘If you treat it well, you will be surprised at what it will do,’ replied the old man.

         ‘I don’t even know your name,’ said Jason

         ‘Just call me Gandalf, the name that came into your mind when you first saw me.’

Jason looked at the old man, ‘how do you know I called you Gandalf?’

         ‘Precious has amazing powers that are about to become yours,’ said Gandalf.

Gandalf stood up and walked to the pub door, opened it, turned around, and waved at Jason before walking through the door.

Jason stood up and ran after Gandalf. He opened the pub door and looked across the street and to the left and right, but Gandalf was nowhere to be seen. He shrugged his shoulders and went back into the public house. Finished his drink and gave the empty glasses to the barman. He walked out of the pub and walked towards home. His mind kept on wondering about the precious in his pocket.

He bought fish and chips for his dinner and walked home. On arriving home he got changed out of his office clothes, he took precious out of his inside pocket and put it on the fireplace right in the centre. The place of pride.

Now my dinner, he got out the tomato ketchup for his fish and chips. Put his hands on the fish and chips to find them cold. That chippie has done it again, served up cold fish and chips. ‘I do wish my fish and chips were hot and I could enjoy them, ‘thought Jason. He turned around to see what else could suffice for dinner. Something made him turn back again, the fish and chips had steam coming off of them. Grabbing the ketchup Jason sat at the table and ate the best fish supper he had ever tasted.

It can’t be magic thought Jason to himself, but nothing else could have made his food hot. I shall have to think carefully before I wish for things, but the question is how many wishes I have, they may be limited. But I wish that my mortgage is paid off. That would leave me with plenty of money every month.

That night Jason slept well and awoke refreshed in the morning. He went to work, wishing that his mortgage could be paid off. At ten o’clock that morning, the telephone rang.

‘Hello, Jason here how can I help you?’

Jason listened in amazement.

‘Thank you, I will come round to see you at lunchtime.’

He put the receiver down,

         ‘You sound happy and pleased with yourself. That is not allowed here, you have to be constantly sad,’ said Jean sitting next to Jason.

         ‘I should be my mortgage is paid off, finished it this morning,’ replied Jason.

Thank you Gandalf and precious, thought Jason.