I was standing in the village herbal apothecary ordering a homoeopathic remedy for my cat when the text from Son of Signs came, saying:
Hi. Feeling like it's all got a bit much now. Don't think I'm up to another 11 weeks of this stress. I've talked to the college, and they've agreed to let me defer for a year. x
I rushed out into the bright, late morning sun and tried ringing him from my mobile, wondering how I could have mis-read the signs so badly. Revising for finals at Oxford is stressful and intense, certain high places are out of bounds to make it harder for young people on the edge to go and throw themselves off. When I last spoke to my son he sounded fine. But isn't that often the way? I rang his mobile. It rang twice and went to voicemail - oh, my poor boy! Then another text from him came:
April Fool!
I think I'll put shaving foam inside his easter egg.
I have always believed everything. Gullible, c'est moi. How can a sharp-thinking, talented woman of the world be like this, is what you are probably wondering, and believe me, if someone were to rush in shouting that the Martians had just landed on the village green I would be the first one on the scene to have a look, while the other gullibles were making a quick get-away in their four-wheel drives (I will say this for me - curiosity would be a stronger impulse than paranoia).
There is something good about being gullible though, or at least open to the idea that anything might be possible. Look at me in my star motif tunic with the batwing sleeves and orange lining, see how light I travel with my small leather bag on the end of a stick that is really my magic wand, but hey. The white flower is appropriate for I am innocent, (though cynics might call me almost too stupid to live), and yes, I really am about to walk right off the edge of that precipice. I believe in god and the angels, the star over Bethlehem, father christmas, easter bunny*, flying saucers, the lucky coins my grandma kept in a box, the thing that happened on the third day.
* I saw it with my own eyes running under an apple tree when I was five, leaving a trail of tiny chocolate eggs wrapped in shiny paper.
11 comments:
I haven't seen the Easter Bunny, but I'm sure I've glimpsed the Sock Rabbit.
Mind you, if you think you're gullible (and I do like the advantages you describe that are attached to it), check some of the inflamed responses to this.
Thank you, Trousers - so enjoyable! Gulliver's Travels came to mind, and a remark made by some bishop at the time it first came out: "for my part, I don't believe a word of it."
Well, if you try the link now, it doesn't take you there - looks like the lawyers finally made a few phone calls. It was only a matter of time.
Perhaps it never existed but in our fevered imaginations, Trousers. This is the Ministry of Truth again, isn't it?
Aye, the airbrush of history strikes once again.
word ver = unabana, which to me sounds positively Cuban...
He definately deserves the shaving foam :)
Being gullible is not so bad, it can make the world seem a nicer place at times.
Thanks for dropping by my blog, the bird house was put up last year, near to patio doors where I can lay on the sofa and watch, I can be very busy lying watching :) It is nice to see it finally being used and amazing to watch the effort of these little birds.
My dear mother is exactly like this. She even fell for the joke about 'gullible' being taken out of the dictionary. It's half lovely and half scary, I always wonder what someone will convince her to sign up for next.
Hi Igotmebabe - I love the thought of being able to lie and watch the birds close up. Our cat, though, is a bit of a saboteur.
Greenwords, luckily I very rarely sign up for anything - that would be scary. It took me years to unbelieve the story that smoking menthol cigarettes made you sterile.
Ah but look at the journey the fool takes and how much he learns!
Wicked SoS, fooling his mum like that! Definitely time for shaving foam in his easter egg! ;-)
That is a really funny April fool!
Love it! lol.
He's a lot bigger than me these days, Mr. Spike. I gave him some white chocolate rabbits which he forgot to take back to uni with him. So now I have to eat them.
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