I was invited, (well, not personally, but still) to  Fandango’s Friday Flashback!

Fandango scrolls back, every Friday, and gives a second chance to a post he had published on the same date, years before. I thought it was a great way to remember some of the stuff I did a while back, and I decided to participate…

So here it is!

Written on August 11th of 2017, here’s the story of my much too short friendship with a questionable old Scottish man. Though his intentions were a little suspicious to most of my ”real” friends’ opinion, I still love him all the same, if only because he inspired  this humorous post.

I hope you’ll enjoy it (again), and I wish you’re safe and well, wherever you are… 🙂

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Not so long ago, I got a friend request on Facebook. Martin Allaway  wished to be friends with me, and I must say, I felt quite honored.

Mr Allaway was an 82 years old Scottish man, and need I say, a man of God. He was severely sick with a terrible case of lung cancer, and desperately needed me to spread his hardly earned wealth to different charities.

Wow! I accepted his friendship gladly, and we started exchanging messages right away. He was very eager to share banking information, because of his short life expectancy… But I kind of disagreed. I prefered to get to know each other a little better first. I wrote long messages about my hopes and dreams, and my exciting job, and he insisted that he had tons of money to give to the poor, and needed me to stop the chit chat and get to business.

Some friends of mine had doubts about Martin. I was a bit disappointed in them, but I did search Mr Allaway’s profile just to prove them wrong. Ok, he only had one picture, but he wasn’t from the selfie generation! Not many friends? He was 82! Most of his friends and family were probably dead… To say the truth, it didn’t take me too long to check his information, because there was very little to verify.

Martin wrote to me everyday, long messages about the inheritage he wanted to leave to the sick and the needy. I eluded the subject for a while, trying to convince him to come visit me in Montréal… But it seemed that his health issues didn’t allow him to travel this far. I suggested that I could come and see him. That way, we could really bond, and then I’d feel more comfortable taking care of his money! I could just imagine going to Loch Ness together, and giggling, taking pictures wearing matching kilts…

But it always came back to the money, and I must say I felt a little uncomfortable. It seemed to me that Martin didn’t know me enough to give me such responsabilities… What if I wasn’t good with money and the like?? He couldn’t tell so fast if I was worthy of his full trust! I sure didn’t feel that trustworthy! What if I was tempted to run away with his fortune, after having him transfer all of it into my French Canadian girl’s bank account??

The old man kept telling me that he knew that I was a child of God and that I would handle the task just as he had planned it. That’s when it hit me.

“How have you found me, Martin?” I asked my good friend one evening. So glad to share the good times with my Scottish pal, I had forgotten to check why he wanted to be my friend. We had no mutual friend, and nothing in common…

Martin tried the “God guided me to you…” reply a couple of times. But I doubted that. God knows I am not the best fit for that kind of “take my wealth and spread it to the poor” quest. I for one, would have chosen a banker, or a lawyer, or someone with a tie! And I am pretty sure God is better than me at taking decisions…

And suddenly, the messages stopped! Just like he had popped into my life, Martin disappeared.

I was devastated.

I did a little research. I found some information about a Martin Allaway trying to cyber-scam people in Pittsburgh. It was totally him!! 82, soon dying of lung cancer and claiming to have lots of cash to give to the poor! It was my Martin!!

I understood…

What a shame… Losing a friend over such a detail. It was kind of my fault too, I had expressed such excitment, knowing he was from Scotland. Martin probably felt terribly guilty for not telling me he was in fact in Pennsylvania…

Geez, I miss Martin.

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Penguin Prompt: Week 7 – Friendship

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