by Larry Low
Someone had a wonderful idea. I don’t remember who first thought of having a reunion in Canada. Anyway, it doesn’t matter much now. The whole gang decided to go to the Winter Olympics in Whistler and have a reunion of the old gang who had had their winter break in Vancouver in the winter of 2002.
We are now on our way to the Winter Olympics of 2010. We are flying to Vancouver just like we did back in 2002. This time we are doing it in style. All nine of us are sitting up in the front cabin in First Class. We are having the time of our lives. While listening to the others talk, I am making notes about our adventure. I am putting myself in the adventure by writing about it.
This flight to Vancouver is a lot more subdued than was the flight we took to Vancouver away back in 2003. Of course we were teenagers then, all except for me, Sally. We are in First Class and enjoying ourselves. The plane has been pushed back from the gate and is taxiing out to the runway. I will keep you informed off our progress.
“Good morning, folks. This is your Captain speaking. I am Captain Shadow and I will be taking you to Vancouver today. I would like to welcome aboard my old friend, Dick the Detective, from away back when. Settle back and enjoy the flight.”
Meanwhile back in the First Class cabin, Dick the Detective is talking with Steve and Steven. He is telling them how he had been on the trail of Sam the Shadow but has now given it up. He was so busy talking that he didn’t hear the captain say, “This is Captain Shadow.”
“You mean you still haven’t caught Sam the Shadow?” Steven asked.
“I’m afraid not,” said Dick. “Sam the Shadow is as slippery as an eel. I don’t care one way or the other now. At any rate, I’m really too busy to be bothered chasing Sam the Shadow any longer.”
“I thought, he was captured when we had to divert to Honolulu,” said Tom, who was now a successful lawyer in Seoul.
“He escaped from jail in Honolulu then,” suggested George.
“That’s about it,” replied Dick the Detective. “Sam the Shadow won’t get away from me this time,” he said confidently.
“I hope he doesn’t,” said Sally. “You know, Dick, this Sam the Shadow business is really becoming quite boring.”
“I agree,” said Sam.
“That’s a good one,” said Dick, who was a comedian in a Seoul nightclub in his spare time. “Get this, Folks; Dick says Sam is boring.”
“That’s really too funny for words,” said Sam. “You’d think I was Sam the Shadow.”
“Where do you get your money?” asked Oskar.
“I earn it designing roads and bridges,” said Sam who was an up-and- coming civil engineer. “But I’m going back to university to study to become a doctor. I want to become a professor of medicine.”
“This is ridiculous,” said Sally, who was working on her second Masters degree while trying to decide what sort of career she really wanted. “How could Sam be Sam the Shadow? For one thing, he’s far too young.”
“No, he couldn’t be Sam the Shadow,” said Tom. “Sam the Shadow is really old. He must be at least thirty five years of age by now.”
“That is old,” said George.
“You’ve got that right, Pontiac,” said Dick.
“Tell me,” said George, “What keeps you so busy?”
“Well,” replied Dick, “I have my comedy routine every weekend and then there is my hobby. The reason I do this comedy routine on the weekends is because I’m a very funny guy.”
“There are those who beg to differ,” said Sally looking up from her steno pad.
“This is your Captain again. Captain Shadow, in case you have forgotten. Ha! Ha! It seems we have a slight problem. It seems that there was a cargo of snakes aboard this aircraft when it arrived in Seoul from Bangkok this morning. So if any of you happen to see a stray anaconda, please ring for a cabin attendant. It seems that one of the anacondas is missing. You can’t really miss an anaconda, you know. The anaconda in question is about five metres in length and is likely to be found slithering between the seats, because that is what anacondas do best. If any of you spot our anaconda, please be so kind as to let us know. Thanks so much. I hope this won’t prove to be too much of an inconvenience. Ha! Ha!”
“I seem to remember something about anacondas,” said Grace. “Where was that?”
“Where were we?” asked Dick ignoring Grace.
“You were telling us about your comedy routine and your hobby, except you didn’t actually get around to telling us about your hobby.”
“Oh yes, I remember now. My hobby. Well you see, my hobby is collecting gas stations. I remember the captain making a boring announcement, which derailed my train of thought.”