I am going to tell you a story.
This is a love story. It is a true story.
This happened to me.
When I was a sailor my ship came into port two times every month.
Since is did not have any work to do when the ship was in port,
I decided to walk into town. Tacoma, Washington USA
And during my first walk I decided to buy a bottle of beer in a shop which was located near my ship.
When I went to the counter with my beer, the clerk was a very small blond girl, with a very sad face. She did not greet me. She did not look at me. I gave her the money. She gave me my change.
Without saying one word. Without acknowledging my presence.
I left the store and I walked to the nearby river. I sat down on the riverbank and opened the beer bottle. But the sadness of the girl had penetrated me. I could not enjoy my beer although I had not had a drink in more than a week. And worse yet, this sadness followed me all of my next voyage on the ship.
So when I got to town the next month, I once more went to the store, just to see if the girl had changed. She was still working. I put my purchase on the counter. She collected my money and gave me my change. But I still did not exist through her eyes.
And during 3 months, each time I entered the store, she remained the same, the most sad person I had ever encountered in all my travels.
And finally the time came for me to leave my ship for my vacation. I had one more night to stay on the ship before leaving in the morning. So I decided to celebrate a bit. I did not stop at the store, but I walked directly into town to a good bar and restaurant and had a good meal and a few drinks.
But since the weather was good, I decided to walk back to the ship. A few blocks before passing the store, I saw three large rose bushes in front of a boat shop. It was night time and the shop was closed. There were many large, beautiful, yellow roses. I decided to make up a large boquet of roses. With my pocket knife, I cut about two dozen roses with long stems. Without knowing why I had cut the roses suddenly a plan began to form in my mind. I continued my walk to the ship, knowing that I would pass the store with the sad girl.
So, with my grand boquet of stolen roses, I entered the store. But there was noone inside. Not one customer. Nor the sad girl. so I continued to walk to the back of the store, when a door opened and the sad girl came into view. When she saw the roses, for the first time she spoke "Are these for me"? , she asked. I said nothing but I presented her with the roses. The intensity of her smile, I will never forget as I live. I have never seen a smile so beautiful in all my life. I left the store as quickly as I had entered, without saying one word.
I returned from my vacation two months later. I never again saw the girl with the sad face. And I never inquired of her. But I like to think that somewhere she is happy.