Not so long ago
I was sitting on a riverside bench
Reading my new Bible
When I noticed a woman
Young in years
Struggling with her shoes
She eventually gave up
And jumped into the river
With the help of a passing gendarme
We rescued the woman from her fate
After returning to my apartment
To dry off and clean up
I returned to the bench
Where I had been reading my Bible
And to my surprise it was no longer there
Yet this was unimportant in view of the drama
A few days later I received a telephone call
Requesting that I visit the hospital
As the woman had requested the my audience
She had previously thanked the gendarme
As it appeared that the woman had tried to kill herself
I thought that possibly my visit might aid her recovery
She told me a story that I half expected to hear
Marie had been engaged to her childhood sweetheart
They were planning their future together
And then he met and eloped with an American heiress
Leaving Marie distraught and quite alone in Paris
For a number of months she had fought her black dogs
And decided to leave the city forever
She was going to jump from a high window
But was petrified of heights
So chose the swollen river instead
I asked her why she had been fighting
With her fashionable shoes when I noticed her
She had purchased them from a fashionable shop
But in her confused grief had chosen the wrong size
This confused me as most people contemplating suicide
Would not add to their wardrobe of shoes
She added that she wanted to look good for God
And make an impression in Heaven
Even though the river would her considerable beauty
Marie had worn her engagement dress under her coat
I had not noticed this fact in the excitement of the rescue
It was then that she pointed to a Bible on her bedside table
The cops had supposed that it was hers as they found it nearby
Nobody actually owns a Bible I have always known this fact
I told Marie that God had been looking after her on that dreadful day
The Bible was the obvious clue not her undersized shoes
Or the fact that the gendarme and I had been nearby
We exchanged our details and promised to support each other
TBC