A man in his socks appeared out of the sky. They didn't see men very often, so the man was a great attraction. Everyone had to get a good look at him. They agreed he was good-looking and not very old either. Maybe twenty-five. His glider had come down on the North playing field in the middle of a hockey game. Gardenia Pratt had shouted the warning and everyone except Cherry who had cerebral palsy but still tried to play got out of the way. She wasn't hurt though.
``You have no shoes on,'' Gardenia said.
``That's right,'' he answered.
``Why don't you have shoes on?''
``You have to be as light as possible when you fly these things.''
Miss Hill came out in a towering rage. Face grey, skin beneath her eyes quivering. She flung her bicycle down and pounced on the poor young man. Gardenia knew Miss Hill had a gun in the top of her stocking but she did not pull it.
``Leave!'' she ordered.
``Of course!'' the young man said, ``but I have to deal with my ship. Do you have a telephone?''
``Absolutely not!'' said Miss Hill.
``In that case I must walk in my socks to the nearest telephone. First however I will have to tether my ship. She's very light, you know. I shouldn't like to lose her...'' His eyes met Gardenia's and a smile bloomed between them in the cold grey afternoon. ``My name is Gardenia Pratt,'' she said.
``Go back to the house!'' Miss Hill shrieked.
With regretful backward glances the girls walked down the field. ``Good-bye, good luck!'' they called sadly.
Perhaps Miss Hill relented and allowed him the telephone. In a couple of hours the glider and its pilot were gone. For a few days in the dining hall the glider pilot was the main topic. Suzanne Howard said she thought her brother might know him, but no one knew his name. Soon he was forgotten. But Gardenia did not forget. The smile they had shared filled her dreams and most secret imaginings. They would meet again. She knew it.
Gardenia Pratt took her A levels, spent three months in India then went to work for the BBC. She had a flat in Hackney and lots of nice clothes and she liked her job and life was good. At a party one day she saw the glider pilot across the room. She smiled. He smiled back. ``Gardenia Pratt,'' she said.
``Gardenia Pratt Gardenia Pratt.'' He did not remember.
``Your glider came down. The playing field at Marsdon...''
``Of course!''
They went out a couple of times and really quite liked each other.
But nothing ever came of it.