The Hotel by Henry Lewi, coconut water

 The Holiday was fast approaching and it was now time to book the hotel.  They had opted for the ‘4 star all-inclusive luxury hotel’ with its plunge pools, large gardens, hydrotherapy treatments and ‘beauty parlour’.  The choice of rooms and varying standards of luxury were extensive and they knew that they had to make the right choice.  Would it be the luxury suite, with its two rooms, one a luxury bedroom, the other a large lavish sitting room with its own private veranda, garden and private plunge pool?  The luxury suite included its own 24-hour maid service and endless availability of room service food.  Or would they choose the luxurious large single room studio, with it’s open access to the prized gardens of the hotel and included all the basic essential amenities, plus a TV, a fully stocked bar, and the special buffet; the cheaper basic room though still well-appointed did not include the buffet, open bar or TV, all of these were most certainly basic requirements!

  Decisions, Decisions, Decisions, but in the end they opted for the large luxury single room studio, with its TV, fully stocked bar and buffet; after all it was just for a week and she was only a small dog. 

 

About the author

Henry is a retired surgeon and member of the Canvey Writers Group. He has published a number of stories on the CafeLit site 

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The Elijah Project

The Elijah Project

Susan A. Eames

Coconut Water

When Elijah fell from the coconut tree his life changed forever.

            A kindly ex-pat called Chip heard about Elijah’s plight and organised a wheelchair donation. Now that Elijah could no longer harvest the coconuts for copra he needed some form of income, so Chip arranged a supply of trinkets for Elijah to sell to sympathetic tourists. But Elijah’s wife left him anyway.

Elijah lived in his wife’s village and her family exercised their right to reclaim the house. He now slept on the deck of his ex-marital home in his shiny wheelchair.

            When Chip and his charitable friends heard about Elijah’s situation they confronted the in-laws, demanding that they show Elijah compassion. Baffled by their interference, the in-laws turned away from the foreigners, unable to express the complexities of their culture: a culture which deemed their actions not only acceptable, but expected, by everyone including Elijah.

So Chip and Co. branded the in-laws as cruel and heartless. They built Elijah a house on the edge of the village and modestly congratulated themselves for solving Elijah’s problems.

            And they told people in their home countries about ‘The Elijah Project’ because people in the developed world should hear these heart-warming stories, shouldn’t they? Naturally, it wasn’t because they sought praise for being such wonderful, caring folk.

Meanwhile, Elijah sat in his shiny new wheelchair in his shiny new house with boxes of trinkets that no one wanted to buy, more outcast than ever before.

About The Author

Susan A. Eames left England over twenty-five years ago to explore the world and dive its oceans. She has had travel articles and short fiction published on three continents. After several fascinating years living in Fiji she has relocated to West Cork in Ireland. Susan blogs at: http://susan-a-eamestravelfictionandphotos.blogspot.ie

Published July 16 2015