When life happens.

Carl had been watching the woman for over an hour.

She has been sitting on a bench ever since he first noticed her, facing out to the sea, with her hands loosely in her lap. She seems to be staring ahead, not moving at all. She might be dead, for all he knows!

The thought startles him somewhat. Damn, why didn't he think of that sooner? He quickly puts on a pair of sneakers and a wind breaker while shouting to his wife telling her where he's going, grabs his house keys, and runs down the stairs to the roadside. He stops briefly to check for cars, and runs across the road towards the bench about a hundred meters away.

As he comes closer to her, he slows down and holds his breath – what if she is dead? Carl stops next to the bench, and waits for a reaction. When there is none, he bends forward and cocks his head to look at her face. That is when she finally turns her head towards him – very slowly. Her eyes seem unfocused and blank.

“Ma'am?”, he says. “Are you okay?”

She says nothing for a while, and then very softly, seemingly with a huge effort, she says: “ I don't know...”

“Are you hurt? Or are you feeling sick? Is there anything I can do for you?”

She tries her best to give him a smile, but fails dismally. A tear finds its way out of the corner of her eye, and down her cheek. This really freaks Carl out.

“Can I call someone for you, an ambulance maybe, or family?”

“I don't know their numbers. It is all gone.”

With an effort, and lots of time, Carl starts to put the pieces of the story together. Apparently Anne (thank goodness she remembers her name!) had flown in to visit her sister. They haven't seen each other for many years, but eventually Anne decided that life is too short to miss someone so much if you can do something about it. So, with the help of her daughter, she bought a ticket, and landed at the nearby airport this morning.

She had never flown before, so she was very unsure of where to go and what to do until a kind air hostess took Anne under her wing. She assisted her until she had all her luggage and even helped her hail a taxi. Only then could Anne relax.

But, as fate would have it, somewhere along the way, the taxi got a flat tire, and the driver had to stop to change it. The devil must've been busy, because the spare was flat as well!!! They waited for help, and then the guy left with his colleague to go and fix the tires. Anne waited by the car. After a while, someone approached her and told her that a another car was coming to pick her up. He helped her get her luggage out of the car, and when the car arrived, he loaded all her stuff, jumped into the car, and sped off, leaving her completely stranded. She had been walking around aimlessly for hours until she sat down on the bench.

By this time Anne was sobbing her heart out, and Carl was at a loss as to what to do. He let her cry for a while, and then told her that she could come with him, and he will help her find her family. She shook her head, saying that she'll wait right there. He realized she was scared of going with him, and he wished he could get hold of the criminals who did this to her so he could bash their heads in! He called his wife from his cell phone, and after a while she joined them on the bench.

After Carl introduced them to each other, Ellie says to Anne: “Anne, why don't you come to our house, and we will try and help you so you can get to your sister. Our house is just over there, the one with the patio in the front and the blue umbrella. Do you see the one? And just think about it, your sister must be so worried about you by now – it's been hours since you were supposed to arrive at her place.”

That seems to do the trick. Carl gives his wife a grateful smile. Anne takes a deep breath, and walks to the house with Carl and Ellie. She still appeared to be unsure of accepting their help, but she doesn't have much of a choice. She will just have to accept that a person sometimes needs other people's help!

When they arrive at the house, Ellie makes sure that Anne is comfortably seated in the lounge, and says: “First things first. You must be so hungry and thirsty! What can I get you – tea, coffee, juice? And how about a sandwich?”

Anne's stomach rumbles as if on queue, but she says: “That is very kind of you, but I don't want to be any trouble. If we could just try and get hold of my sister?”

“It is absolutely no trouble, Anne. Wouldn't you do the same? Please, let me make you something to eat and to drink, it will make me feel better, because I know by now you must be famished.”

“Thank you, some tea and a sandwich will go down very well,” she says with a smile.

While Ellie is making her refreshments, Carl sits down with a note pad and a pen.

“Right. What can you remember – the address, telephone number, anything at all?”

Anne looks sheepish. “Oh my goodness. I'm sorry but my mind is a complete blank. The telephone number was on my cell phone, I never knew it off by heart. And the same with the address. Oh my...that is going to make things difficult, isn't it?” She looks very down hearted at this point.

“Don't worry, we'll get to it. What is your sister's name, and is she married?”

Carl writes down everything he can think of, and then goes to the study to call the police to see if they can assist.

Ellie comes back with a pot of tea, two cups and a cheese, ham and tomato sandwich.

“Is that okay? I didn't even ask what you would prefer – if there is anything you don't eat, please feel free to take it off the sandwich, I won't feel offended.”

“Oh no, thank you! That looks utterly delicious!” Anne tucks in with gusto, and cannot decide if she is more hungry, or more thirsty. She has to admit that she is quickly starting to feel better about the whole situation.

Just as she takes the last bite, Carl comes back from the study with a smile. Anne notices his pleased expression and tries to dampen down the excitement she is starting to feel.

“What? Have you got any news?”

Carl can't help a grin spreading over his face.

“We got lucky! In the end it was so easy, because your sister has already phoned the police to ask them to be on the lookout for you! She told them that you were due at her place hours ago, and that she had already confirmed with the airport that the flight has landed on time. So when I called, they were very happy to know that you were okay. I have called your sister, and she should be here in about half and hour to pick you up.”

Carl is alarmed when Anne bursts into tears again. Ellie hands Anne a serviette and sits down next to her.

“Hey, it's okay. Everything worked out in the end.”

Anne blows her nose, and smiles through the tears.

“I will never be able to repay you for your kindness. If it weren't for you, I would probably have had to sleep on that bench tonight!”

“We would never have allowed that to happen. And we don't want anything from you, you just go and enjoy your time with your sister.”

After Anne has finished her tea, she asks Ellie if she could use the bathroom to freshen up. Ellie takes her down the passage, past the study and the stairwell, to show her where it is. She takes her time in the bathroom and when she rejoins Carl in the lounge, he asks where Ellie is.

“I think she said she is going upstairs to also use the bathroom.”

“It is weird that it is taking her so long.” But he sits back and chats with Anne for a few more minutes. After another five minutes he gets up and says: “I had better go check on her.”

Carl gets up and runs light footed up the stairs. Anne follows at a slower pace.

After a while she hears two sharp toots outside and is relieved to know her ride has arrived.

She takes her time down the stairs, and out onto the deck. She waves happily at her sister, and gets into the car.

“So, how did it go?” her sister asks her.

“Like clockwork,” she answers her, as she takes off the wig and peels off the disguise from her face that had turned her into an old woman. She holds up her hands so her sister can see two diamond rings glittering on her fingers, and a gorgeous and extremely expensive watch on her wrist. Round her neck hangs a heavy gold chain that wasn't there when she arrived.

“These two won't know what hit them! They will definitely wake up with headaches,” she continues happily.

“Well done!” her sister says and gives her a high five.

She puts her foot down on the accelerator, and Anne tosses her disguise into the wind with a satisfied giggle.