SSP/Douglasthedog Habitica August-4-2020

One day, Henry went on vacation to Croatia, a beautiful country. Everything seemed to be going pretty well, up until the seventh and final day. There was something spoiling the beautiful sight, and it was not what Henry had planned.

Henry was a planner. He began planning the trip over a year ago. Dubrovnik in the fall. The idea came from a travel station on his satellite television. The Adriatic Sea, the grand wall that encircled the city and the Old Town were places were places of fantasy to him. And more importantly to the people he worked with standing around the water cooler. They had interesting lives. They did interesting things. They spent time with interesting people. But none of them had ever been to Croatia.

He started with the internet. He thought first about taking either a train tour or a backpack trip. But that seemed like an awful lot of work and he would already be all the way in Croatia so a plane trip and a hotel would be just as impressive. He settled on Dubrovnik, a beautiful and historic town on the Adriatic Sea. It would make the best pictures for his social media accounts. With pictures like those people would surely like them. They might even give them a heart.

He talked to a travel agency and they were more than happy to book his plane and his hotel and arrange for a tour of the city each day. It was expensive. He could've made the plans himself but something made him feel important by using an agent. More than important, it made him feel respected.

It was a difficult wait. He dropped a couple of hints at the coffee pot one day. Anybody know where the necktie came from? Nobody seemed interested. They wanted to talk about sports or their relationships or the games they played on the internet. They talked about those things every day. They'll wish they'd talked to him more when he gets back.

A week before the trip he bought some new luggage. He carefully printed his information on the cards in the ID tags. He made a list of all things he'd take. He checked those items off as he packed. He was ready three days early.

The trip was long but relatively easy. The hotel was quaint and historic and just what he'd wanted. Not everyone stays in a hotel like that, only certain people. Henry was one of those people. He arrived in the afternoon and thought about venturing out for a picture. But that wasn't part of his plan. He had a plan for everyday of the trip. The plan for the first day was unpack, become familiar with the area, and rest. He stuck to the plan.

The next six days Henry also stuck to the plan. He traveled back and forth across the new city and the old city. He took pictures in the new city to show that he was hip. He took pictures in the old city to show his culture. He walked the limestone old town streets until his feet blistered. He took pictures of old churches and sailboats and steps. There were plenty of steps. No one mentioned those at the travel agency. He wrote down all the places he visited. He'd put a caption to each picture before he posted them. He checked off every place he planned to visit, all except for one.

The Walls of Dubrovnik surround the city and run for nearly a mile and a quarter. It is the most recognizable and the most famous feature of the city. Henry saved it for the last day. He wanted those pictures to be the first to appear on his digital camera roll. When he arrived home, those would be the pictures he posted first.

His last day of travel arrived. Henry woke early and packed his suitcase and left them sitting by the hotel room door. He made all the arrangements for his afternoon flight. The trip had been long. He was tired, maybe a bit irritable, but mostly he was excited. A taxi picked him up in front of the hotel.

His plan was to walk the wall, all six thousand feet of it, taking pictures of the wall and the sea and the old stone fortress and watchtowers along the way. The sun shined and the air was clear. He'd grown tired of the city. He spent most of the taxi ride looking through the camera roll on his digital camera. It had been a glorious trip. Oh, the things he'd seen. They won't believe him back at the office. But they'll have to believe him when they see the pictures.

From the front of the car he heard the driver make a noise similar to the American "uh-oh". Henry looked up from his camera.

The Croatian police had numerous cars parked near the wall entrance. Their lights were turning red and blue on the roof. A small crowd was gathered.

"Oh no. Oh, no no no." Henry said.

In pretty good English, the taxi driver said, "It looks like the wall is closed, sir."

Henry through the door of the taxi open and stepped out.

"Sir, the fare?"

Henry paid and headed straight for the crowd. The police already had caution tape stretched across the entrance. Further down the wall there were more police cars and another small crowd. He began to panic.

The crowd looked to be mostly tourists. He approached a gentle white-haired grandmother and proclaimed, "Just what is going on here? This isn't part of the plan. What is spoiling this beautiful sight?"

The grandmother, in a very grandmotherly way, said, "There's been a terrible accident. Someone has gone over the wall and into the sea. There looking for someone else, a murderer, I think. They said the wall is closed all day. They have to collect evidence, you know."

"Oh, no. Oh, no no no! I have to see the wall today. That is the plan. Today I see the wall. That's been the plan from the very beginning."

"Well there's lots of other beautiful things to see here also. We've been here three days already and it is absolutely breathtaking. We walked the entire wall yesterday. It really is beautiful. You'll have to come back tomorrow and see it. But there's lots of other things to see as well."

Henry yelled, "I’m leaving this afternoon! I can't come back tomorrow!"

Several of the others in the crowd turned their heads. A couple of the police officers turned their head also. One of them became interested.

"Sir, please calm down. You're making a scene."

"I planned this trip for a year! Today is my day to see the wall! That's part of the plan!"

The interested police officer arrived. He spoke to the grandmother.

"Is there a problem here?"

"That man, he seems very distraught. He's very disappointed the wall is closed."

"Drinking?" The police officer made a motion like he was drinking.

"I-I don't know about that. He's not very level-headed though."

Henry stood staring at the scene on the wall. He had lots of pictures. Pictures that no one else had. He'd been to places where no one had been. He'd be the envy of the office. He would be the object of their attention and affection. But not without the pictures of the wall.

He took his camera from his neck and took a quick picture of the wall and the police cars. That was good. He'd need a few more though. He'd need to get closer. Maybe just get across the yellow tape. There'd be better pictures from over there.

He took a step toward the tape and the wall. A voice from behind said, "Sir. Sir, stop right there."

He wasn't talking to Henry though. Not Henry. Henry had pictures to take and people to impress and he had affection waiting on him as soon as they saw where he had been and the life he lived. He took another step toward the yellow tape.

"Sir! Stop right there!"

Not Henry. They weren't talking to Henry.

Something hit him from behind. Something hard. He spun sideways and saw it was the police officer. There were more rushing their direction. The officer hit him again and he dropped the camera and it bounced against the hard stone of the old city. The lens broke off the front. The main casing busted in two. The camera was ruined.

The police were on top of him. They put hand-cuffs on and hauled him to his feet and walked him in the direction of a police car.

"My camera!" Henry said. "The trip! I had a plan. Oh, no no no! But the memory card's still good. I could get the memory card out and they might still like me. They just might."

The police officer pushed him into the back of a car. Through the backdoor window he watched a group of kids take the camera and run the opposite direction of the police.

Henry placed his head in his hands and began to weep. He mumbled, "I had such a good plan."