20K Bulldog

20K Bull Dog

By

Andrew Cahill-Lloyd

Sydney train commute. Good Friday.

It is isn't exactly your normal commute on a long weekend .

Add the holiday travellers to the usual daily commuters and its bedlam.

Where are the masks? We are in the middle of a pandemic. Idiots.

He settles in with a good book, thinking the trip today would be unbearable without it.

Did someone just drop their guts?

It's not like the train isn't already hot and stuffy.

The mask is providing coverage beyond it's usual use.

Dirty bastard. He giggles to himself.

Suddenly something cold and wet presses against his arm.

"What is that?"

He turns to look.

A tall blonde girl sits beside him.

"It's my dogs nose." She laughs. "Sorry"

"That's O.K. I didn't realise he was there."

"She."

"Sorry". He tickles the French Bulldog under her chin.

"What's her name?"

"Professor Evie Tobin. Evie for short."

"What is she a Professor of?"

"Aeronautical Engineering and Temporal Mechanics. She holds two doctorates."

"That's one smart little dog."

"She is very special. Whoa, This is my stop. Bye."

He spends the rest of the trip thinking about the girl.

Bonkers or loony?

He leaves the train at his stop and walks the short distance to home.

As he approaches the front door, he can hear excited noises from the kids.

He walks through the door and they pounce on him.

"Daddy, They've made the drop. Someone's going to win twenty thousand dollars."

"What are you talking about?"

His wife takes control of the conversation.

"Let me explain it to him. Radio BFF is having a competition. This afternoon one of the radio hosts was on a train with her little dog and she dropped a book into a passengers bag. The book has instructions on how to win a twenty thousand dollars."

"Well that's weird I just had a VERY strange encounter with a young woman on the train."

"Did she have a French Bulldog?"

"Well, yes."

"Was the dog a Professor?"

In the background he can hear the radio is on and its playing Abba's Money Money Money.

"That's it!"

The kids run to the lounge room.

The kids are squealing.

Suddenly his wife's eyes light up.

"Check your satchel. Check your satchel."

He opens his satchel to find a little black book inside.

"What is this?"

His wife screams.

The kids run into the room.

There is a deafening squeal.

"Open it. Open it.!"

He sits at the dining table and opens the book.

He reads the contents out loud.

"This book is the property of Radio BFF.

You have been given the chance to win twenty thousand dollars.

It won't be easy.

You will need to remember the conversation you had with our courier.

You need to ring (02) 98761234 and answer the following questions.

Was the courier male or female?

What did they slip into your satchel?

What type of dog was she carrying?

What was the dog's FULL name?

What two Doctorates does the dog hold?

We suggest you take the time to write your answers down before you ring the number.

Make sure they are clear in you head.

Each question will increase your winnings but one wrong answer will mean you will lose it all.

One wrong answer you get nothing!.

Five questions right and you win a twenty thousand dollars!

He hands the book to his wife with a pen.

"O.k. Time to make that eidetic memory pay!"

"Question 1: Was the courier male or female?"

"Female. Young lady with blonde hair."

"Question 2: What did they slip into your satchel?"

"A little black book with the instructions."

"Question 3: What type of dog was she carrying?"

"French Bulldog."

"Question 4: What was the dogs FULL name."

"Professor Evie Tobin."

"Question 5: What two Doctorates does the dog hold?"

"Aeronautical Engineering and Temporal Mechanics"

"Are you sure of the exact answers?"

"Yes. I've been going over what she said for the whole trip home. I'm 100 per cent sure."

"Shall we ring the number?"

"As good a time as any."

He dials the number. It is answered immediately.

"Radio BFF here. Your friend on the radio Peter Stevenson."

"Hello Pete. Time to give away that twenty thousand dollars."

"Love your spunk. What's your name?"

"Paul Jones."

"You had an encounter with our Mary?"

"To be honest I thought she was either bonkers or loony. Dog with a double doctorate. Funny. The kids soon set me straight."

A female voice cuts in.

"Mary here. Officially it's bonkers . Loony is too strong a word."

Pete laughs wildly. "I beg to differ."

"Do you remember what I said?"

"Word for word."

"Mary and I have made that drop three times and they couldn't even remember the dogs name."

"Got this covered, trust me."

"O.K Mary, let's see how good he is."

"I'm going to ask you a series of five question. The value will go up incrementally with each question all the way to one twenty thousand dollars. Are you ready?"

"Hit me."

"Question 1: For a $1000. Was the courier male or female?"

"Female."

"Bit of a moot question really. We'll move on."

"Question 2: For $5,000. What did I slip into your satchel?"

"A black book with the instructions."

"Question 3: For a substantial $10,000. What type of dog was I carrying?"

"French Bulldog."

"Question 4: For $15,000. Before I ask you must understand I want her full name as I said it to you. You'll remember I also gave you a shortened version. I want The FULL name and TITLE."

"O.K. Got it."

"What was the dogs FULL name."

"Professor Evie Tobin."

"Oh My god, I'm almost hyperventilating."

Pete tries to calm Mary down.

"Deep breaths Mary."

"Question 5: For TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!

What two Doctorates does Professor Evie Tobin hold?"

"Aeronautical Engineering and Temporal Mechanics."

Everybody holds their breath. No one moves.

Mary says.

"Correct."

Everybody starts to cheer and the kids are absolutely beside themselves.

The squeal is so loud Pete and Mary can only hear a distorted noise.

Pete and Mary wait for the noise to die down.

"Happy Easter. What will you do with money?"

One of the kids yells out. "Easter eggs."

Mary laughs. "Twenty thousand dollars of Easter eggs. I'm on my way."

"Easter just got a whole lot better."

"Mary would spent it on Easter eggs too."

"Absolutely. There's no such thing as too many Easter eggs."

The End.