A story

The snow had fallen for days already when Dick and Bob decided for a skiing weekend. Minutes later, Dick was behind the wheel, driving up north from Calgary, Alberta. They were barely moving on the slow lane when Bob said ‘Dick, be careful, I think this car is gonna roll’. Seconds later, the bulky, flashy dark silver SUV that had just overtaken their rusty Chevy took a sudden turn to the left, hit the fence, then spin out and skidded and eventually left the roadway, then rolled several times before smashing a large billboard. The car was a wreck when it eventually stopped spinning around, its wheels upside down, and deep in snow.

The girl had her face covered in blood, but was alive. Her dog was apparently dead, though. Dick thought she’s too young and pretty to die like that, and wished he could do more than calling 911 and waiting for the paramedics… His hands moved quickly as he did all he could to stop the bleeding. Poor thing! He felt strange the whole weekend, and could not stop thinking about what had happened on that Friday evening.

A few years later, Dick was sipping coffee in a cafeteria in Ciudad de Mexico, when she asked smiling ‘mind if I sit here, cowboy?’ Haven’t I seen this beautiful woman before? She introduced herself. ‘I’m waiting for the lineups, I run tomorrow’ she added. They both had signed up for this year’s marathon and were obviously looking forward to it. She was Canadian, and was born and raised in Calgary too. It turned out that they were actually neighbors; she had just rented close to his place, days ago. ‘I had a terrible accident a few years back, and spent many months in the hospital, then in a wheelchair. I was not sure whether I could run again’. ‘Dick, I am so happy to be here, enjoying this sunny day!’ His face was violently pale by now. ‘I was actually very lucky’, she said gravely; ‘the doctors said I would have not survived had not been for a rather skilled young man' that she 'never had a chance to meet’. ‘Until now’ he muttered.

They married in Verona.