His face, lit up by Cretan sun,
Was beaming with a job well done.
“You see, we didn’t need to fear;
The car has taken all our gear!”
He hadn’t stopped to ask himself
Perhaps a missing parcel shelf
Accounted for the extra space
That let him stack in every case.
It seemed that we had timed it right:
Two hours before they had their flight
We reached the airport just at noon
(It turned out not a tick too soon);
There was the rental firm to see
To sign the form and drop the key.
The luggage cart was piled up high
While Peter went off with the guy
But minutes later back they came –
Their mood was clearly not the same.
Satisfaction – not a trace
Remained on Peter’s gloomy face.
“He won’t accept the hire car back
Until we have the parcel rack.”
The hire-car man began to speak
First in English then in Greek.
“We need it now, a client waits:
You’ve put us all in dire straits!”
So Peter said he was afraid
The shelf was at the place they’d stayed.
“Fetching it will take a while!”
I said with my most fetching smile.
“I’ll go and bring it back to you
While these folks join the check-in queue.”
And so it was – there is no doubt –
A holiday that Petered out.
