Lucky Dip

LUCKY DIP ?

The dull grey sullen clouds seemed so low that they looked as if they
were part of, rather than just reflections in the murky River Tyne at
Low Walker. That dull weather and the run-down back-drop of an obsolete
shipyard seemed to mirror the sad mood of the suicidal young man. He
was swaying unsteadily on the slimy moss covered cross member of the
derelict pier. Ironically the man had to struggle to keep his balance
to avoid an accidental earlier than planned dip in the river, in which
he was preparing to end his life.

Before leaping to his chosen death in the fast flowing and polluted
river Simon Lee paused. He paused to check that the stout chain he'd
fastened to his left wrist was secure. Lee ensured that he was unable
to remove the chain from his wrist with anything short of a hack-saw.
Then he turned his attention to checking the mechanism of the snap
action padlock that he held in his right hand, along with the free end
of the chain. Clicking the lock closed and opening it with the key
twice to test it. He unlocked it finally and hurled the key as far out
into the river as possible so that he was unable to use it again.
Taking a deep breath he plunged into the turgid water, still clutching
the open lock and the free end of the metal halter.

The shock of his immersion into the filthy current almost caused him to
discharge the air from his lungs but he resisted. He knew that he would
need all the breath to accomplish his ultimate plan to fasten himself
to the bottom rung of a metal ladder leading down from the jetty.
Kicking as hard as he could with both legs he drove himself down
towards the murky river floor. The pull of the tide was much stronger
than he'd expected it to be, the air trapped in his clothing made his
descent to the bottom much slower than he'd anticipated.

By the time Simon had reached the river floor eight metres below the
surface the current had carried him about one hundred and fifty metres
downstream, well away from the targeted ladder cleat. The river-bed
wasn't how he'd expected it to be, visibility was practically nil, with
his lungs straining and his heart beat pounding in his ears he fought
the tide flow. Just as he thought he was going to have to give up he
touched rather than saw a likely anchor point to tether the free end of
the chain to.

He grasped what appeared to be a rigid leather bound metal hand-grip
sticking out of the thick silt, he threaded the end of the chain
through this anchorage and snapped the lock shut through two of the
chain links. Now he considered himself firmly and irrevocably tethered
and would certainly die. This was Simon's way of committing
suicide.

He'd thought long and hard about how he should do it. Having heard or
read somewhere that drowning was the least unpleasant way to die, but
realising that since he was a strong swimmer he would probably
instinctively save himself. This way there was no chance of doing that,
turning back would prove impossible. After having completed his task he
allowed himself to exhale the stale air from his bursting lungs and
take in the fetid river water.

During those last few months while he was planning his own demise the
thirty years old entrepreneur often wondered what death would be like,
now finally, he was to gain practical experience. He found the feeling
rather pleasant once he'd got over the initial reflex struggle brought
about by the shock of the cold water's intrusion into his lungs.
Pictures or rather impassioned memories flashed into his mind when he
lost conscience. The most vivid of these flash backs being the recent
hurts he'd suffered. There was Baby Jane's cot death, Judith's, and his
own feelings of guilt although they were in no way to blame for the
child's death. That however wasn't the way they'd saw it, they blamed
themselves. After a year of avoiding discussions about their loss,
there followed almost two years of constant quarrelling. Then it
happened! Divorce when it inevitably came although neither party really
wanted it caused the subsequent collapse of the business.

The ensuing bankruptcy brought about by the divorce had proved to be
Simon's final shame, his absolute emotional lowest point. Most of his
creditors did get the money his company owed them, nevertheless after
realising all his assets he'd gone through the liquidation hoop for a
paltry two thousand pounds short fall. It was during his insolvency
hearing that he he'd began to formulate the plan for his own death,
since he'd nothing left worth living for.

Serenity replaced the drowning man's nightmare pageant of final
recollections, a tranquillity that made him feel as though he was
floating on a sea of scented clouds. All of his problems seemed to melt
away like a sun kissed morning mist. Aspirations, shame and fears
didn't seem at all important any more, for the first time in three
years he felt at peace in his mind.

Rising up and on towards what he could only understand to be a halo of
ethereal serene light that he felt was his ultimate destiny and wished
with all his being to become a part of. Before he could merge with the
luminescence however it burst into a myriad of stars that then reformed
into a faint image of Judith's face. Gradually Judith's spectre became
solid and reached down anxiously to him and squeezed his hand. His
ex-wife bent down further and kissed him gently on the cheek
whispering. "Thank God darling you're alive, the police got hold of me
as they thought I was still your next of kin."

Here he was after seemingly dying, lying in a bed and being kissed by
Judith. In due time he learned that he'd come ashore on the slip-way of
a shipyard where a group of labourers had been working. The workers had
pulled him out, luckily one of them had first aid experience and he'd
brought the seemingly drowned individual back to life before the
ambulance arrived. A nurse informed Simon later that he had remained
unconscious in a critical condition for several days, and during that
time Judith had kept an almost round the clock vigil at his
bedside.

Several days after being admitted to the hospital Simon left the ward
with Judith. They had talked things over and decided they would try to
make another go of marriage. Money or rather the lack of it was the
only thing that cast an ominous shadow on their future prospects.
Judith had borrowed her brother's car to take her ex-husband home from
the hospital. Following their thanks and farewells to the hospital
staff they made their way to the car park at the front of the
building.

On reaching the vehicle they climbed in and were about to drive away
when a porter knocked on the roof shouting. "You forgot your things."
Simon looked puzzled and then he smiled and said to Judith. "Oh it must
be the things I was wearing when they brought me to the hospital."
Judith leaned out the window and asked the porter to put the things
whatever they were in the boot. When he'd deposited the luggage in the
trunk he closed the boot-lid then gave the thumbs up sign and they
drove off giving him a wave

Arriving outside their new rented home the couple hugged and kissed
each other as if to mark the start of their new life together. Money
would certainly be tight but at least they would have each other.
Climbing out of the borrowed motor Judith said. "I'll get your things
while you open the front door of our new love-nest." Simon laughed as
he ran towards the rear of the vehicle and called. "Stop treating me
like I'm an invalid I'm quite capable of carrying them myself."

Throwing the boot-lid open he looked in amazement at a mud soiled
waterproof bag that he didn't recognise. Attached to the handle with a
padlock was a short chain with a sawed through wrist clamp. This he did
recognise as the chain he'd used in his suicide bid. He realised the
metal hand-grip of the bag had been the handle he'd anchored himself
to.

They carried the mud stained bag into the house. Simon placed the
sealed satchel on a workbench in the kitchen. He then tried
unsuccessfully at first to open the metal framed hold-all. It took them
several further attempts with a variety of tools to get the stout
valise open.

When the couple finally got the satchel open and laid out its contents
they looked at each other in utter amazement. Reason for their surprise
being that they found the bag contained a large watertight container
and several lead weights. Inside the container was one hundred and
sixty thousand pounds in high denomination, used British bank
notes.

by Don Passmore. ?