Chance

A 100 word short story

Wee Johnny stumbled from the murky depths of the pub into bright morning sunshine knowing he had to make things right.

Lizzie was waiting for him at home.

The kids would be awake, hungry for breakfast.

It was pay day so him and the boys had went to the pub after nightshift.

Feeling flush he had offered to buy the rounds.

Now he was broke, but that could be sorted.

The bookies was just down the road and the first race would be starting soon.

He would win it all back.

Last time was bad luck.

Today would be different.

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So, this is my third story based on the song titles from The Crossing by Big Country which, I think, is the greatest debut album of all time. Ironically, Chance is also the third track on the album, and is a definite change of pace to what comes before and after. It’s a wonderfully moving piece of music about the betrayal of hopes and dreams amid the grimness of 80’s Scotland.

The melancholy tone definitely influenced my telling, but this interpretation is actually based on a true story. My wife’s nana and papa used to live in The Rottenrow in Glasgow. The street has existed in one form or another since 1283. Johnny and Lizzie stayed there in the late 1950’s, with their 3 kids in a one bedroom tenement flat, when it was one of the most notorious slums in the city. Johnny worked hard but was afflicted by those two most common of Scottish addictions, drink and gambling. All his money would get blown week after week on these vices. Eventually, at risk of losing their home, Lizzie, as well as looking after the kids, had to work nights cleaning the stairs and hallways of the nearby Royal Maternity Hospital to make ends meet. All in all, it must have been a very hard life, and one that was a brutal reality for so many people at that time. That’s why I always listen with weary scepticism to folks wanting to go back to the “good old days.” There was nothing good about them.

Anyway, Lizzie lived to be 93 and was a wonderful woman, and a great wee story teller right to the end. It was a privilege to get to know her over the last 20 years of her life. I hope this story has done her proud.

Thanks for reading. Until next time.