I own this nice little cabin up in the hills. I was situated right next to a camping and holiday site. The line marking the property boundaries between the two sites were just a couple of white painted rocks. Neither of us had seen any need to do anything more.
I was staying up there for a couple of weeks, taking a well-earned break. After I'd been there a couple of days we had a storm. A really nasty one with lots of strong wind. A real lot of very strong wind. The sort of wind that snaps of branches and throws them around and if you're unlucky uproots trees and drops them in inconvenient places.
I was lucky. The few branches that got dropped on my property were very smartly moved to one side and I left them there to dry out a little. Once they were dry I'd cut them up and have sufficient firewood for the rest of the year.
The camping and holiday site were not quite as lucky. There was this big old tree on their property, hundreds of years old and tall enough to be a danger to passing planes. It must have weathered a hundred storms as bad as this particular one. Unfortunately it decided that the hundred and first storm was enough, and it fell.
The tree very neatly squished the accommodation block. The utilities block and the Admin area were untouched. The general camping area was covered with fallen tree, shattered building, and miscellaneous branches. They weren't going to be cleaning that up in a hurry.
The manager of the camping site came wandering over to see me.
"Morning, Mike."
"Morning, Gordon," I replied, smiling pleasantly. I could afford to smile. My place wasn't wrecked.
"I see your place wasn't damaged at all."
"A few loose branches. Nothing of importance. Can't say the same for your place."
Gordon turned and gave his place a sulphurous look. He was definitely not a happy chappy.
"Matter of curiosity, Gordon, but didn't you petition the council last year to get permission to cut that old tree down?"
"That we did, Mike. That we did. They said it was fine and refused permission. We asked again this year with the same result."
"Reckon they'll prosecute for having the tree come down without permission?"
Gordon gave a cynical laugh.
"They may want to but they're not that stupid." He paused for a moment. "At least, I don't think they're that stupid."
"Never take bets on how stupid a governing body can be. It's odds on that they'll be as stupid as the silliest person on the council."
"Well, my lawyer is getting in first. Their negligence in not permitting reasonable maintenance of the camp has resulted in an unfortunate result. We're suing for the cost of the clean-up and the cost of rebuilding the accommodation block. It's going to be hard for them to argue that the tree was healthy when we can point to the corpse."
"Anyway, that's irrelevant right now. I have a more immediate problem. I have a group of twenty senior girl guides arriving this afternoon and I've got nowhere to put them. They were supposed to pitch tents but it'll be days before the camping area has been cleared. Your place, however, has a nice expanse that doesn't need clearing and I was hoping that you would let them pitch camp there. That's all they need. The utilities block is still okay. I don't mind paying for the privilege."
I considered the request and shrugged. Why not? It was no skin off my nose. It wasn't as if I'd be using the ground for anything.
"Yeah, that'll be fine, Gordon. Just make sure the grounds are properly cleaned up after they go. No need for payment. It's not costing me anything and it would be nasty to take advantage when you're in a spot. A decent bottle of whiskey will be compensation enough."
Deal made Gordon trotted off to make his arrangements and I went fishing. When I returned (with fish) there were what appeared to be a hundred young ladies swarming around my front yard. I guessed they were the twenty senior Girl Guides.
I received a very disdainful look from a couple of young lovelies as I moved towards my cabin.
"Hey, how come you get a cabin while we're stuck with tents?" demanded one of the girls.
"I guess any of you who were entitled to a room will find said room squished under that tree," I explained. "If you can persuade the tree to move aside I'm sure you can have what remains of your rooms. As for my having the cabin, it's a case of I know the owner so I get preferential treatment."
True enough, seeing I was the owner. The young lady grumbled a bit but didn't bother to make an issue of it. Over the next couple of days I got to meet several of the girls, finding them quite happy to flirt with me, with me being just as happy to flirt with them. I wasn't really trying anything on - just casual flirting on both sides.
I went fishing early one morning, wanting some fresh trout for breakfast. I was returning with a nice little string of four when Brenda and Angela intercepted me, Brenda being the young lady who wanted the cabin.
"Where did you get those?" she demanded, indicating the trout.
"The river," I said, jerking my thumb in the general direction thereof. "Ah, can you cook?"
"Cook? Of cause I can cook. Who can't?"
"Lots of people. If you're a good cook and are prepared to fix my breakfast you're welcome to share in the trout."
"Deal," said Angela speaking quickly, "but I'll do the cooking. I've tasted your cooking," she added when Brenda started to say something, "and I'm not having you touch those fish."