The Luckiest Day
of the Year
Mark entered the teacher’s lounge, hoping that the coffee
available was fresh. He needed a decent
cup after the morning he’d had.
He’d gotten behind in his Earth and Space Science class when
a discussion about full moons led to teenagers shouting at each other about
werewolves, vampires, and zombies. A
student in his biology class threw up while he was explaining how broken bones
healed. And three boys in his chemistry
class caused their beakers to explode when they tried to hurry the chemical
process he was leading the class in by doubling the temperature on their
burners. Thankfully no one was hurt.
But Mark really needed a cup of coffee.
Three of his fellow teachers were already in the lounge,
and he heard Ms. Krist, the English teacher, ask fervently. “Is it a full moon or something? I swear every class I’ve had today has been
hyper or completely zoned out.”
Jerry Angles, the art teacher, laughed. “As a matter of fact, it is a full moon and it’s Friday the 13th!”
Jane groaned. “I
completely forgot. Well, that explains
it. I personally think that Friday the
13th should be an automatic day off.”
“Hear! Hear!”
Jerry and Sam, one of the school’s counselors, agreed.
“What do you think, Mark?” Sam asked as Mark joined them
with his thankfully fresh cup of coffee.
“Friday the 13th is a day to avoid, isn’t it?”
Laughing, Mark agreed that avoiding the students on this
particular day would be nice, but he personally didn’t want to avoid the day
itself….
A few hours later, tired and glad to be home, Mark
unlocked his front door and was soon dressed in much more comfortable clothes
and heading to the kitchen. It would be
a couple hours before Connor arrived home from work, and so he set about making
a savory meat pie, filling it with beef, sausage, potatoes, carrots and peas,
and then letting it slowly heat in the oven as he made a rich gravy they would
ladle over it when dinner time came. It
was Connor’s favorite meal, and Mark felt some energy return to him as he imagined
Connor’s surprise when they would sit down to eat.
The table was set, and Mark had just finished running the
vacuum when the front door opened and his husband entered their small
home.
“Ugh,” Connor groaned as he shrugged out of his
coat. “What a day! Our fax machine broke. The internet went down for two hours, and
somebody nuked sauerkraut in the
office microwave! The place stank for
the rest of the afternoon!” he complained as he hung up his outer clothes and
stepped out of his shoes. “I know I
shouldn’t be superstitious, but sometimes I dread this….” He stopped speaking and sniffed the aroma in
the house appreciatively as Mark came close and wrapped an arm around his waist. “It smells like meat pie in here!”
“It should, since that’s what’s in the oven,” Mark told
him.
Connor’s eyes lit up and he pressed a kiss to Mark’s
lips. “Did you make it for me?”
“Of course I did. It’s a special day.”
“To most people it’s a day of bad luck and craziness,
which I might have to agree with after today’s work problems.”
Mark shook his head.
“I’ll never agree with that. I
think Friday the 13th is the luckiest day of the year, because you
were born on a Friday the 13th…31 years ago today. I became the luckiest man in the world that
day.”
Connor chuckled as he turned and wrapped his arms around
Mark so they were face-to-face. “You
were seven months old when I was born on that Friday the 13th. I wouldn’t call you a man.”
“Well, you can say I was the luckiest seven-month-old
then, and I’m still lucky today. Happy birthday,
Connor-love.”
