Spring had sprung. The season of new growth, warm days, and sunny skies. Flowers were blooming and the grass was growing faster than you could cut it. Each day the air smelt fresh and clean with nature drifting past on very errant breeze.
And those damned errant breezes were blowing pollen up my nose and into my eyes and down my throat leaving me with puffy eyes, runny nose, and sore throat. I went to the pharmacist for hay-fever medication and it had exactly zero effect. I finished up going to see my doctor and whining piteously.
With prescription in hand it was back to the pharmacy. The medicine was produced with the following warnings. Not more than the stated dosage. I knew that. I don't abuse medicine. Take it after a meal. That I could do. I was already hungry. No alcohol while taking the medicine. Still not a problem as I wasn't a big drinker. So give me the damn stuff before I expire. Hay-fever can be lethal, you know. One last thing, it may make you sleepy. Don't drive it makes you tired. So I'll stay home and sleep if required. Give. Me. The. Pills.
I headed triumphantly home, pills in hand. In my pocket, actually, but I see no reason to be pedantic. I had lunch. I took a pill. Capsule, actually, if you have to be pedantic. My nose cleared. I stopped crying. I could see normally. My throat stopped hurting. I praised the doctor, the pharmacist, the medicine, and all those people at the drug companies who spend their lives working to make me feel better.
I stepped out into the back yard and took a big breath of pollen scented air, held it, then let it out. It smelt marvellous and no hay-fever. Did I feel tired? No! I felt alive, ready to take on the world. I decided to go for a run, rejoicing in good health and extra energy.
I headed towards the path at the side of the house, taking a mental note to do something about the fence when I got back. There was a small hole in the fence, nothing that I couldn't fix, especially as Mike, the guy next door, would be paying for the materials. I considered that only reasonable as it was his car that drove through the fence. He was lucky he didn't damage any uprights. I would only need to put in new crossbeams and re-nail the existing panels.
Taking a closer look at the hole I noticed that Mike's car wasn't there, meaning that he was probably down at the pub, it being a Saturday and all. I also noticed that Renee, Mike's wife was home. She was taking advantage of the fine weather to both hang out some washing and get a tan. She was working on the tan by wearing a fetching little bikini. Renee was in her early twenties and a fetching little thing. She was a real little honey, with honey-blonde hair, and working on a honey coloured tan.
I wandered through the fence to say hullo to Renee.
"Hi, Renee. I was just admiring the hole Mike punched in the fence. I'll do a patch on that later today."
"Oh, hi, Steve. Um, it wasn't Mike, you know," she said with a blush.
Her blush deepened when I raised an eyebrow.
"I hit reverse instead of first," she mumbled. "Mike was rather scathing."
I just laughed. Not a problem. All was right with my world.
"How are you feeling, Steve? Your hay-fever seems to have gone."
"Indeed it has. Gone and forgotten. I feel the way you look. Absolutely wonderful."
"Ah, I see," she said, sounding a little doubtful. "You seem in rather exuberant spirits."
"Just happy at being rid of the sniffles," I said, beaming. "I'm just bouncing with energy."
I looked at Renee. She really did look marvellous. She made that bikini look sensational. She'd be a wow at the beach.
"Ah, thank you," Renee said, looking puzzled.
"Excuse me?"
"I just said thanks. For the compliment to my bikini."
Had I complimented her bikini? I was pretty sure that I hadn't mentioned it. Still, she was right. It did look sensational. Could be improved though.
For some reason Renee was now giving me odd looks.