Lucky Friday the 13th

“Good morning!”

“Is it?” Heather snapped.

“Isn’t it?” Greg asked, confused.

“It’s Friday the 13th! How can it be a good morning?!”

He laughed. “Really? Come on! You’re not really that superstitious, are you?”

“You wait,” she said darkly. “You just wait.”

He shrugged and turned away to get the coffee started. As he rinsed out the carafe, he banged it on the edge of the sink. Just a tiny tap, nothing big.

Crack! The fragile glass container shattered, leaving him with the handle in his hand and a sink full of broken glass. “Damn!” he muttered.

“See?” she said from the table. “Don’t mock Friday the 13th.”

He shot her a look, but was wise enough to keep his mouth shut. “I’ll get coffee on my way to work.”

He kissed her on the top of her head and turned away, but she grabbed his hand, clutching it tightly. Looking up at him beseechingly, she whispered, “You be careful out there.” He nodded, kissed her again, and headed for the door. When he reached it, he looked back at her, sitting head-down at the empty table. She looked so miserable!

He turned and came back to her. Gently tipping her head up, he looked deep into her eyes. There was real fear there. It might seem silly to him, but to her it was very serious. He kissed her gently and brushed her cheek with his thumb. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ll be fine.” She didn’t look convinced.

He drew her to her feet and kissed her again, a proper kiss. “I love you,” he murmured.

“I love you, too,” she responded. She summoned a tiny smile. He smiled back encouragingly and headed out the door.

He backed his car out of the garage, his mind still on her inexplicable concern. She had been through some difficult times as a kid, and they seemed to coincide with Friday the 13th, so he could sort of understand. But, still, she wasn’t a kid any more and -

Crack!

He jumped, startled, and looked around the car somewhat wildly. “Damn!” he muttered. A crack snaked across his passenger-side mirror. His inattentiveness had caught him, and he had hit the mirror on the edge of the garage door. Better keep this from Heather, he thought. Breaking a mirror on Friday the 13th?

Fully attentive now, he drove carefully to the nearest Dunkin’. He sighed when he saw the length of the line of cars at the drive-thru, and glanced at his watch. At this rate, he was going to be late for work.

He waited a few more minutes, glanced at his watch again, then pulled out of the line. No time for this today, he thought grimly.

Just as he was about to pull out onto Main Street, a black flash zipped in front of his car. Cursing, he slammed on his brakes. The blur resolved itself into a black cat, just disappearing into the bushes to his right.

Jeez, he thought, this day just keeps getting better! A smashed coffee pot, a broken mirror, a black cat crossing my path …what next?

As if in answer to his question, a tremendous SMASH! came from his left. He spun his head around to find the source. There on Main Street - where he had been just about to pull out for his left turn - was a writhing, shrieking multi-car collision. A pickup truck, a Jeep, a dumptruck… all mashed together in one pile of twisted metal. The accident blocked all lanes of traffic, as well as the Dunkin’ exit.

Looks like I’m gonna be here a while, he sighed. Very carefully, looking both ways - and then looking both ways again, just for good measure - he pulled into an empty space at the edge of the parking lot.

He drew out his phone to call in to work. When Eric, his co-worker, picked up the phone, he could barely hear him for a shrieking alarm in the background.

“Hello? Hello?” he shouted into the phone.

“Hello? Greg?” Eric shouted back. “I can’t hear you! Hello? Speak up!”

“What is going on?” Greg shouted into the phone. “What’s that racket?”

“Fire!” Eric shouted back. He coughed, then continued. “One of the bathrooms. The place is full of smoke! We’re evacuating! Call you back!” The call was disconnected.

Greg sat motionless in his car, staring at the phone in his hand. Good Lord! he thought. What’s next?

He rolled down his car window and turned the engine off. Nothing to do but wait for the road to clear, anyway. He stared at the commotion as the multi-vehicle crash was cleared away. Police cars. Ambulances. Tow trucks.

“Geez,” he said to himself, “that could have been me. I was just about to pull out when it happened. If it hadn’t been for that cat…”

“Meow.” The plaintive cry came from just outside his window. Looking out, he saw a small black cat. The very cat that had dashed in front of him, preventing his exit onto Main Street.

“Well, hello,” he said to the cat. “I suppose I should thank you for saving my life,” he laughed.

“Meow,” the cat replied. It launched itself neatly through his window to land gracefully in his lap. It winked at him, and began to purr.

Greg’s cell phone rang - Eric. “Hello?” Greg answered it. “How’s it going?”

“Jeez!” Eric gasped, coughing. “What a morning! You’re lucky you’re not here yet. You’d have to turn around and go home, anyway. We can’t go back into the building today.”

“Three day weekend!” Greg laughed. “My lucky day.”

“Lucky?” asked Eric. “It’s Friday the 13th! Nothing lucky about that day.”

“Yeah, that’s what Heather said this morning. But I’m feeling pretty lucky right now. Have a good weekend.”

“Yeah, you, too,” Eric said, hanging up.

Greg sat with the cat in his lap, petting it, until the road was cleared.

“I’m gonna call you Lucky,” he told the cat, scratching it under its chin. He very carefully drove back home, Lucky asleep in his lap.