I’ve told this story a number of times but I don’t think I’ve shared it on Accyweb and as it still makes me chuckle whenever I think about it I thought I would (share it with you). Let’s face it, you could probably all do with a good laugh. It’s about one of those times when you really had to be there to fully appreciate the situation but I hope I can help you picture it.
It happened quite a few years ago when my youngest son was studying at a local University. He had made friends with another young bloke there (Bruce) who over time became like part of our family. As the University was not far from here they would often come home for lunch. One day they decided to have some hot chips so my son set about cooking these.
After a while Bruce came into the kitchen (I was also in there). As he came in Bruce called out ‘how long will it be before the chips are done?’ – and, even as he was asking this, on the steamed-up kitchen window, in front of his eyes, the words ‘the chips are ready’ started to appear. Now when I tell you that my son was nowhere near the window, nor was anyone else, it was a very spooky situation – it was almost like as Omar Khayyam once wrote ‘the moving finger writes and, having writ, moves on’. It was as if something, some power unseen, some moving finger, was writing it, and then indeed was moving on. Bruce turned slightly pale, gave a gasp, and I have never seen anyone jump backwards as quickly as he did as he pointed a shaky finger at the writing. As I said, you had to be there – it was very funny, and I have to admit we were all a bit stunned at first.
Now I could stop telling the story at this point and leave you wondering how it had happened but the answer to the mystery is really very simple. A couple of weeks before my daughter was cooking chips (we did eat other things as well) and while she was waiting she had written ‘the chips are ready’ in the steam on the window. The steam had disappeared of course along with the words but when the steam appeared again so did the writing – and it just happened to be right at the moment that Bruce asked the question. Mystery solved – Jonathan Creek eat your heart out.
We often laugh about it whenever we see Bruce. He says he still remembers the spooky shock he had when those words appeared. Reckons it probably scarred him for life – slight exaggeration…but still worth a chuckle.
It happened quite a few years ago when my youngest son was studying at a local University. He had made friends with another young bloke there (Bruce) who over time became like part of our family. As the University was not far from here they would often come home for lunch. One day they decided to have some hot chips so my son set about cooking these.
After a while Bruce came into the kitchen (I was also in there). As he came in Bruce called out ‘how long will it be before the chips are done?’ – and, even as he was asking this, on the steamed-up kitchen window, in front of his eyes, the words ‘the chips are ready’ started to appear. Now when I tell you that my son was nowhere near the window, nor was anyone else, it was a very spooky situation – it was almost like as Omar Khayyam once wrote ‘the moving finger writes and, having writ, moves on’. It was as if something, some power unseen, some moving finger, was writing it, and then indeed was moving on. Bruce turned slightly pale, gave a gasp, and I have never seen anyone jump backwards as quickly as he did as he pointed a shaky finger at the writing. As I said, you had to be there – it was very funny, and I have to admit we were all a bit stunned at first.
Now I could stop telling the story at this point and leave you wondering how it had happened but the answer to the mystery is really very simple. A couple of weeks before my daughter was cooking chips (we did eat other things as well) and while she was waiting she had written ‘the chips are ready’ in the steam on the window. The steam had disappeared of course along with the words but when the steam appeared again so did the writing – and it just happened to be right at the moment that Bruce asked the question. Mystery solved – Jonathan Creek eat your heart out.
We often laugh about it whenever we see Bruce. He says he still remembers the spooky shock he had when those words appeared. Reckons it probably scarred him for life – slight exaggeration…but still worth a chuckle.