The Right Way? - By Nigel A JAMES
The Great Escape
Last week, I heard a most remarkable story. It was all about an escape that was waiting to happen, and, it happened just after the war!
A fine Viennese lady told me of her brother’s unusual escape from the Americans. The war had just ended, and, being Austrian he wasn't enjoying his life as prisoner of war in occupied Germany. All he wanted was home. But his nearby Austrian home had never been further away! Life in the form of exercise yards, American meals and the same old card games was set to continue. But then one day and out of the blue his life took a change for the better!
And, it happened in the exercise yard. On his own in a corner, he found that he was standing right next to a door. At first he thought nothing, but then the temptation to try the handle overtook him, and, to his great surprise he found that the door was unlocked. He needed no time to think. Without even looking over his shoulder, he quickly and quietly opened the door and stepped silently out of the camp. Freedom! All of a sudden, he was on the right side of the wall! But then?
And then came the biggest surprise of his life! Leaning against the wall was a bike! And, with only a momentary feeling of guilt, he was up in the saddle and off into the heat of the summer! And his luck continued until he got home. There were no serious incidents and the people he encountered were only too willing to help him with a drink and something to eat. But, that’s not the end of the story!
He had been home for two weeks. All was fine. And it was a Wednesday and without thinking, he decided to cycle to the village to get one or two things and possibly meet up with a friend. But where was his bike? It was gone. And this, he believed, was how it should be. The bike had helped him, and now it was doing the same for somebody else. There are some things that one just cannot plan, and this was definitely one of those things! Fate, it seems, knows better than we do!
