Purely Coincidental?	

Standard disclaimer applicable here. Characters are property of Alliance
and I'm just borrowing for the purpose of this story. all errors are my
own. 

Comments, criticisms and good luck charms are welcome at
tsejuie@pl.jaring.my 

 Purely coincidental? 

------------------- 

by Hsu-Lyn Yap 

"Good morning, Ray." Fraser greeted him, as he let Dief precede him into
the car. 

"Yeah, if you say so." Ray muttered a little distractedly as he actually
looked through his mirror before pulling away from the kerb. 

Fraser raised an eyebrow enquiringly at the uncommonly careful driving Ray
was exhibiting. He was actually stopping at stop signs and red lights,
looking both ways before crossing streets, neglecting to drive at the
breakneck speed Fraser was used to enduring...all in all, behaving in a
manner very unlike Ray indeed. 

"Your driving has been very admirable today, Ray." Fraser said
conversationally. "Well, not to say that it's never been. I mean, it's
just better today that it usually is. That is to say..." 

"That is to say that I'm not giving you any white hairs today, Benny." Ray
cut in impatiently, stopping his car to let a woman and her child cross
the road. 

"Know the date today, Benny?" 

"It's the 13th of September, Ray." 

"Yeah, and the day?" 

"Friday." 

"Yeah, Friday the 13th. So, I woke up this morning, right? And I had this
really weird feeling, like something was going to happen? And true enough,
when I checked my car, it was running out of gas. If I hadn't checked, I'd
have ended up being stranded. A disaster duly averted." 

"That was just a coincidence, Ray. Friday the 13th is just a superstition.
It is just like any other day in the calendar." Fraser sounded bemused. 

"Says you! Then again, how bad could things be up north? The fish stop
biting? Polar bear attack, maybe?" 

"A polar bear attack *is* a serious matter, Ray." 

"And I thought they were such nice creatures. No, seriously, Benny.
Something *is* going to happen today. I can feel it." He pulled up in
front of the Consulate. "You want a ride home?" 

"If it isn't too much bother.." 

"Yeah, yeah. " Ray waved impatiently at him. 

"Thank you kindly, Ray." Fraser called after the car as it edged, not sped
away as it normally did. 

"I know, Diefenbaker." Fraser looked down at his wolf as he set his
Stetson on his head. "That was very uncharacteristic of Ray's driving, and
I would not deny that I would prefer him to adopt that attitude more
often, but you cannot expect everyone to conform to your ideals." 

Diefenbaker gave a little growl, and Fraser sighed. "Alright. *My* ideals
as well." He held the door open for the wolf. "You simply *must* have the
final say in everything, don't you?" The answering whine was unmistakably
firm in agreement with him. 

"Now, Turnbull, you take that end, and on my count, we'll lift it to the
top of those other boxes. Ready? One, two..." 

"Constable!" 

"Yes, sir!?" Constable Turnbull automatically spun around and snapped to
attention. Fraser however, was left with his end of the heavy box of
files, and a muffled "Oh dear!" accompanied him as he fell off the
step-ladder. 

"Are you alright?" Turnbull bent down to pick the scattered files off him.


"Yes, I am." Fraser got up, brushing himself down before snapping to
attention in the presence of his superior officer. A faint look of
exasperation and resignation flashed briefly across his face as his
glanced down at the files, before he schooled his features back to
neutrality. 

Inspector Margaret Thatcher passed a critical eye over the mess and
frowned. "Constable Fraser. I'd like to see you in my office now." 

"Constable, I believe I asked you to collect my dry-cleaning from the
laundry this morning?" 

"Yes, sir. You did." 

"And may I ask where the clothes are now?" She sounded faintly irritated. 

"At the dry-cleaners, sir." 

"*Did* you pick them up?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Yet they are still at the dry-cleaners. Am I missing something, Fraser?" 

"I picked them up this morning as you instructed, sir. However, on my way
back, I noticed a man on a ladder, who was painting a sign over his shop
window. Coming towards him were two dogs chasing a cat. The cat ran under
the ladder, and the dogs followed..." Fraser began his explanation. 

"I hope there is a point to this little anecdote, Fraser." The Inspector
warned impatiently. 

"Oh yes, sir. The dogs knocked the ladder over, and the man fell off it. I
happened to be passing by and managed to save him." 

"And the clothes?" 

"I'm afraid in my attempt to save the man, I had to discard the clothes.
When I went to retrieve them, they had been splashed with paint. Yellow
paint, sir. So, I sent them back to the dry cleaners." 

"You do realise that the bill is coming out of your pocket?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"And your hair, constable?" 

"I was inadvertantly splashed with the paint as well, sir. I had to go
back and change my uniform. I have tried to remove as much of the paint
off my person as I can. I'm afraid I haven't been very successful." 

Inspector Thatcher looked at him for a long time. An amused smile twitched
at her lips as she took in the yellow flecks in Fraser's hair. Finally,
she gave a curt nod. 

"Dismissed. Oh, and don't forget to collect my dry-cleaning tomorrow." 

"Understood." 

"You will *not* laugh at me, Diefenbaker." Fraser came close to a scowl as
he put his brown tunic on. "Getting locked in the toilets is no laughing
matter!" 

Diefenbaker merely sat there, with his tongue lolling out, an unmistakable
lupine grin on his face. 

"I was not aware that the lock on the door was faulty, nor was I aware
that that toilet was unusable for that reason. Apparently someone had
removed the sign from the door." He put his Stetson firmly on his head. 

Dief gave a short bark as he turned to leave. Fraser turned back and gave
a little frown. 

"Yes, I am aware that today is Friday, the end of the week, and that if
you had not alerted the janitor, I would still be stuck in there, and
probably over the weekend as well. I believe I have thanked you, so there
is no need to keep harping on it!" 

"Now, if you would kindly leave the office... I believe Ray will be along
shortly." He held the door open as the wolf padded through. "*And* you can
stop laughing at me!" 

"Hey Benny, remember the 'feeling' I was telling you about this morning?"
Ray seemed to be in good humour. "Well, nothing happened to me today!
Well, nothing bad, that is. You are probably right. Friday the 13th *is*
just like another day." 

Fraser noticed however, that he was still driving carefully. Apparently,
Ray was not taking any chances. 

"What's that in your hair, Benny?" Ray had just noticed the yellow flecks
of paint. 

"Paint, Ray." 

"Paint?!" Ray looked amused. "What did you do? Decide to change your hair
colour the easy way? Though I'm not sure that yellow is really you." 

"I got splashed by paint, Ray." Fraser launched into an explanation of the
day's events. "...and so, I had to save the man from falling off the
ladder." He concluded. 

"The cat. What colour was it?" Ray asked abruptly. 

"Cat? Well, black, I believe, with three white socks and a white patch on
one ear. But I was watching for the man, so I could be mistaken." 

"So, a black cat crossed your path today? And you ran under a ladder? No
wonder you got splashed by the paint! And to top it all off, today's
Friday the 13th!" Ray exclaimed. 

"That's just supersti..."Fraser began, but fell silent. The memories of
his falling off the step-ladder, the scattered files and being locked in
the toilet came back to him, unbidden. 

"Fraser? Hey, Benny! What's up?" 

"Nothing, Ray." Fraser looked out the window, silent until they got to his
apartment block. Then, he turned to Ray. 

"I guess you could say, Ray, that I had more than my fair share of
coincidences today." 

THE END