Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Luggage (08/15/05)
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TITLE: Do Miracles Happen? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Gabrielle Morgan
08/21/05 -
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When my friend announced to me that she was booking a month long trip overseas which would include a Scandinavian cruise, a week on a Greek Island and 5 days in Rome and wondered if I would be interested in accompanying her, I immediately agreed. I was ecstatic with anticipation.
As I was to be her guest on this trip I allowed her to arrange the itinerary. To my amazement, she had booked a connection of five separate flights from Australia to get us to Greece.
“Oh no!” I thought. “With so many flights what would become of our luggage?” I had a strong premonition of arriving in Athens without it. The nearer it became to our departure date the more nervous I felt, but I tried to forget about the luggage and think with joyous expectation of the trip.
The day came to leave Australia and we passed over our baggage to the airport attendant at the beginning of our journey and were told we would see it again at Athens Airport. After hours and hours of flying time, and hours and hours of waiting in boarding lounges for flight connections we finally arrived in Athens feeling utterly exhausted with only our excitement driving us to overcome our energy depletion. We waited at the carousel watching for our cases until every one had been taken.
“Where are they?” said my friend, her voice rising with agitation. “Everything we have is in those cases.”
“Well, five flights, I’m not surprised.” I had pointed out my fears to her before she had finalised the bookings, but she had scoffed at my suggestions to alter the bookings to a direct flight.
“Oh they will be here, let’s go and ask,” she said. This entailed walking
endless passageways and stairs until finally we were ushered into a room which was full of unclaimed baggage piled up from floor to ceiling.
“Can you see it,” the porter asked. We searched in vain, after which we were directed to a counter where an attendant took our details and gave us a receipt to show to our insurance company in case we never found our luggage. Then as we had no clothes to wear we purchased T shirts and made our way to the final flight over to the Greek Island.
The next day we shopped for more clothes and bemoaned the loss of items in our luggage that couldn’t be replaced. But the charm of the island of Mykonos distracted us from our otherwise overwhelming sense of despair. We walked along the lovely white alleyways among the shops and came across a small chapel where lighted prayer candles tempted me to add my own request to our Lord, “Please find our luggage.”
Two days later we were called to be told our luggage had been found and would be delivered to us that day. We were elated; the cloud of despondency which threatened our holiday disappeared, and I sent up a prayer of thanks.
“Let’s go out to dinner to celebrate,” said my friend excitedly. I agreed.
Our luggage arrived and we prepared to open it when my friend said, “I can’t find the key to my case.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I remember putting it in the pocket on the side of my case.”
I proceeded to look for it. I couldn’t find it, so proceeded to turn the pocket inside out. My friend looked too, but to no avail, the key wasn’t there. “That’s impossible,” I said, “I know I put it there.”
“We’ll have to ask reception if they have some pliers, we will have to force the lock,” she said resignedly.
We went and got the pliers but still had difficulty opening the case, but after much effort finally forced the lock.
“I know I put that key in the pocket. I am mystified where it could be. I will have to pray to St. Anthony, they tell me he finds things that are lost,” I laughed.
But that night, true to my word, I fervently prayed to St.Anthony, to find my friend’s key. The next morning, to my amazement, the key was there in the case pocket. We were positive we had turned the pocket out and there was certainly no possibility the key could have been there. We looked at each other totally bemused.
Were we beset by the charm of Mykonos, or do miracles happen with prayer from the heart?
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