A friend of mine whos name is Daryl was on vacation
with his family at their cottage in northern Ontario. This is a secluded area with very little around
except for other cottages and a general store about ten miles away.
Daryl and his family spent their time fishing,
swimming, and hiking all summer. There was an old man that
lived up the road a bit in a small cottage, called Ben. He was a very nice old man that would stop by
every day to ask Daryl and his siblings if they wanted to go fishing. Old Ben knew all the best spots on the
lake and Daryl's parents encouraged him to go. Ben had told Daryl's parents he moved to the
area years earlier when he had retired. Old Ben was like part of the landscape, always fishing in a lake
or creek, or meandering along one of the trails on his way to another fishing hole. He only had one bad habit,
and that was smoking a pipe full of Erinmore Flake tobacco. It had a very distinctive and pleasant smell, and if
people couldn't see him, they knew when he was around from the aroma.
Daryl fell in love that summer with one of the cottager's
daughters. They were only in their early teens and were eager to spend time together. The girl, Lynn,
was a bit younger than Daryl, but just as enthusiastic to get together every chance they had, even if
it was going fishing with Ben. They did everything together!
One night, they decided to sneak down to the
swimming hole when their parents were busy playing cards. They dared each other to go skinny dipping.
They both got up the nerve to do so and jumped in still wearing their swim-suits. After the initial shyness, off came
their swim-suits in the water, and they threw them up on the bank. At first they were just splashing around
and acting up, but eventually they hit the "no turning back" point.
Old Ben chose this moment to show up. He
came to his spot quietly and just sat down on the banks a bit farther down from Daryl
and Lynn. He turned to the side, his back towards them and started fishing. Lynn was totally embarrassed.
Daryl felt disappointed at this turn of events, but was embarrassed also. They tried to be as quiet as possible
as they sneaked out of the water, grabbed up their suits and took off to dress in the bushes. As they were sneaking
away, they heard Old Ben muttering out loud, "Evening is the best time for fishing," with a chuckle.
They walked along quietly for a while; the whole
situation seemed to leave them speechless. Finally, Lynn spoke and although Daryl wished she wouldn't say
it she said, "We are too young to be getting involved with sex! I'm only fourteen. We could have made a big
mistake." Daryl had to agree, although he wished otherwise. Lynn asked, "Do you think Ben saw us?"
They both reasoned that he must have. The next thing they worried about was whether or not Ben would tell their
parents. As the summer continued, they found that their secret was safe. Ben was quite closed-lipped about
the entire affair, except to mention now and then that, "Evening is the best time for fishing!" and chuckle a bit.
This would always get a good blush out of Lynn.
Daryl and Lynn rode down to the General Store
on their bikes one day and while they were shopping they spotted some Erinmore Flake Pipe Tobacco. Daryl suggested
they get Ben some, not just for keeping their secret but because he was so kind, always taking them fishing.
As they were paying for their purchases the owner of the store said, "You better not be buying this for you. You are
too young to be smoking anything, especially a pipe." They explained to him how they were getting it for an older
friend of their's who loved to go fishing and smoked his pipe along the way. The owner really looked at them now as
if he were trying to decide if they were being honest or not, then he rang their purchases through. On
their way out of the store they over heard him saying to another customer, "That Erinmore Flake Pipe Tobacco sure does remind
me of a customer I used to have. Poor Old Ben, yeah, he has to have been gone now for close to fifteen years."
On the way back to the cottages all they could talk about was
what the man at the store had said. He must have been confused. Everyone in there area knew Old Ben. There
must be another "Old Ben". He was just a friendly old man who liked to fish. At the cottage they told their
parents what they had heard. Their parents just laughed because Old Ben had been around as long as they could remember.
Maybe the store keeper had said something that sounded similar or probably they had just misunderstood.
After that, Old Ben seemed to vanish. No one seemed to know exactly where his cottage was. He had always said,
"It's just up the road aways."
When their parents were in at the General Store, they
asked about Old Ben and got the same story as Daryl and Lynn had overheard. Their parents still refused to believe
that it was the same Old Ben or that anything was wrong. "Perhaps he has gone to visit his family," they suggested.
On the last day of summer, Daryl and Lynn left Ben the
pipe tobacco on a rock at one of his favorite fishing spots. The young couple left the package as a tribute to the caring
old man. Later on that day, Daryl went to the same spot and noticed the tobacco was missing. He could not see
Old Ben, but could swear he could smell the tobacco being smoked and hear a chuckle in the wind.
Thank you Daryl for telling me your story.
I hope you like the way I wrote it for you. My daughter liked it very much. It's comforting to know someone could
be watching over us to guide us out of trouble.
