The Tale of Mundy and Sylvie

Again, the shot is pretty ordinaire, so I'll have to rely on words to entertain you.
This is second of the three coin tales from Monday's blip.

It begins in the mid sixties, after Dolly died, when Mundy was working at the Centre (English spelling this time) for Cognitive Studies in Harvard. He was passing through New York and was invited to a party by a friend where he was introduced to a beautiful young woman called Sylvie*. There was an instant attraction between them; one of those wonderful coup de foudre incidents you read about in romantic novels. Sylvie took Mundy back to her little apartment and he didn't return home for two weeks! Neither of them expected anything to come of this wild liaison, but, when he had to leave, Sylvie slipped a little note into Mundy's pocket which read the pain is unbearable!.

Mundy is notoriously bad at remembering names and directions. He tried so often to find Sylvie on the many occasions he visited New York. He searched for hours, stopping off at pubs to quench the thirst he built up as he trudged the pavements, usuallyending up somewhat inebriated. But was never able to find her apartment or her name in the directory. All he knew was that it was somewhere near Central Park. So they lost touch and Mundy's career took him to several places on the other side of the world.

Fast forward forty years. Mundy and I were giving a party at our house in Harare. Our Zimbabwean graphic artist friend, Chaz, had just arrived back from Paris where he had been judging an international poster exhibition and was raving about a fabulous meal he enjoyed at the home of a French graphic designer. "Strangely enough, Mundy, his partner asked me if I knew you. I told her I had been with you the weekend before. She had spotted your name on one of my emails"

You've guessed...it was Sylvie! We got in touch via email and when we visited
England the following year she came across from Paris to meet up with Mundy again. With her she brought this little three pence Ghanaian coin that he had given her when he left her all those years ago. She had kept it safely tucked away in this box in the hope that they would see each other again one day.

We had a happy weekend with Sylvie and when she left to return to Paris she told me that meeting Mundy was one of her life's most extraordinary encounters.

I can well believe it!


*name changed.