Astral Projection

 

There was a saying my grandparents were fond of, “See a penny and pick it up and all the day you’ll have good luck.”

I wasn’t sure if this applied to really dirty pennies but I did pick one up and slipped it into my bag.

With the economy drive I seem to have embarked upon I was walking to the huge big Tesco store almost three miles away. I intended to exchange my remaining Polish bank notes for ones that I could actually spend.

I intended to make just one purchase; a tub of Astral moisturising cream.

I had run out of it, and as it was something my skin had become addicted to, this constituted a crisis. I had to get some.

I’d been introduced to the stuff by Karen on Kibbutz Yiron. She swore it kept her wrinkle free. Being a mere twenty-one years of age at the time, or something close to that, I was easily impressed. And she obviously had no wrinkles and was really old; I mean really, really old I thought that if it works for her it might work for me. Karen was twenty-seven…ancient.

So I exchanged the Polish notes with no difficulty in the Tesco store in the post office there and then I set about trying to find Astral Cream. I even asked somebody for help. She kindly took me back to where I’d been earlier looking and then pointed out an empty plastic container on the very bottom shelf. They were out of stock.

Undaunted, I walked back towards home via Morrisons.

In Morrisons I ask first one person who then put me onto somebody else.

It seems Morrisons are no longer selling Astral Moisturising Cream .

“There’s no demand for it,” I’m told. They stopped selling it, “three months ago.”

I walk on towards home, there is a chemist on the way. They sell tiny tubs of the stuff at exorbitant prices. I shall have to go in there.

I’m musing about the so called ‘good luck’ that my penny is bringing me as I trudge along. It might have been better had I left it on the ground.

After a journey of nearly six miles I enter the chemist shop. And begin my search.

They do have the cream on the shelf.

They even have a special offer on it.

And it’s cheaper than ever it was before.

Delighted I buy three tubs.

By the time they run out I will be ancient and my skin will resemble crocodile hide so it not longer matter much if there is none available in the future.

I drop the change into my bag and it jingles with the lucky penny as I walk home.