It was a
perfectly ordinary day when Number 99 woke up. Rising out of bed, putting on
his dressing gown he went through into the lounge. He drew back the curtains
and looked out of the window, there was no-one! The Piazza was devoid of
anyone.
99 washed, shaved, dressed, had
breakfast and then went out into The Village. There was no-one leaning out of Bell Tower looking down at him. The waitress was
busy opening the café, but no-one interrupted her to ask her the name of The
Village, or to enquire where the police station is. So there was no-one for the
waitress to ask if they wanted breakfast, or even to direct them to the telephone
box around the corner! As he passed cottages there was no maid standing on a
balcony shaking a yellow duster, and she definitely wasn’t seen rushing along a
path and down steps. As 99 made his way through The Village, no-one greeted him
with the words “Beautiful day.” There was no order to “Be still,” so the
Village Guardian didn’t put in an appearance, and no-one was suffocated by said
Guardian. And the Ex-Admiral wasn’t sailing his plastic boat in the Free Sea on this particular morning.
There was no-one running along the
beach being pursued by two men in a Mini-Moke. What’s more he didn’t see Number
9 at a funeral, because no such funeral took place. The regular Brass band
concert never took place, and no-one attempted to escape by helicopter, and the
Ex-Admiral was still sitting waiting for an opponent to play chess!
And so 99 arrived at the Citizens Advice Bureau at the usual time he got there!
“Morning Number Twenty-eight.
“Morning Ninety-nine.”
Be seeing you
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