{"id":874,"date":"2018-09-14T13:00:44","date_gmt":"2018-09-14T13:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/?page_id=874"},"modified":"2020-04-17T14:11:38","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T14:11:38","slug":"pin-number","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/?page_id=874","title":{"rendered":"PIN Number"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This flash was a runner-up in the 2017 WOW competition<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs. Hart\u2019s PIN number might have been her son\u2019s birthdate or something else altogether but, whatever it was, the number had now flown out of her head as if it had never existed.<\/p>\n

The woman behind the counter frowned. \u2018Try again.’<\/p>\n

 Mrs. Hart got distracted by the woman\u2019s frown and the thick black gloves for sale next to the chocolate bars. But she did try again. Of course she did.<\/p>\n

 Incorrect PIN.<\/em><\/p>\n

 \u2018You have one more chance before the bank refuses your card.\u2019<\/p>\n

The woman\u2019s frown reminded Mrs. Hart of her old teacher at primary school. What was her name? She should not allow herself to get distracted. She must think of the PIN. Her hands started to shake. If it wasn\u2019t Jake\u2019s birthday, perhaps it might be Amanda\u2019s. No. Wrong. Incorrect. Error. Blunder. A right cock-up, her husband used to say.<\/p>\n

 The woman sighed loudly. \u2018Don\u2019t you have another card\u2026or cash?\u2019<\/p>\n

 Mrs. Hart rummaged in her purse for another card but she could only find a store discount card and one of those cards where you get a free cup of coffee after you\u2019ve drank ten cups, plus a dog tag that had belonged to her dog Flora who died last December – the 16th<\/sup> of December to be precise – at 2.22pm. Her memory couldn\u2019t be so bad if she had remembered that detail. She\u2019s never been good with numbers. Not like some people.<\/p>\n

Her purse contained a scruffy ten pound note and a handful of change but it wasn\u2019t enough as she\u2019d put \u00a320 of petrol in the car. She wondered what would happen. Perhaps the woman would call the police and they\u2019d lock her in the cell for the night. Perhaps her photograph would appear in the local paper.<\/p>\n

 \u2018I\u2019m sorry. I only have \u00a310.57.\u2019<\/p>\n

  \u2018Wait a moment. Let me serve these other customers.\u2019<\/p>\n

 Mrs. Hart waited. She could feel the other customers\u2019 eyes boring into her back. She was shaking inside as if she\u2019d fallen into a washing machine. While she waited a memory surfaced; a day in primary school when she\u2019d slapped Eva Cound across the face. It was wrong to slap Eva but Eva had called Mrs. Hart names \u2013 although of course she wasn\u2019t Mrs. Hart back then but Jane Muir. Elaine had said, \u2018your mother is a bad woman.\u2019 Mrs. Hart never understood why Elaine had said such an awful thing.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Hart pushed her thoughts aside. She looked out through the window. Outside the sky was a lovely dark blue and the streetlights had come on. \u2018I don\u2019t know why I forgot the number,\u2019 she said to the woman. The queue had now vanished.<\/p>\n

 \u2018You\u2019ll have to call the bank.\u2019 The woman had a big red face and round glasses.<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t have one of those phones.\u2019<\/p>\n

 \u2018You can use mine,\u2019 a man said, holding out one of those new-fangled phones. He was dressed in a shiny black leather jacket dotted with silver studs. The skin on his face was tattooed with a spider\u2019s web. He looked fearsome but he had a kind voice.<\/p>\n

 Mrs. Hart felt herself flush. \u2018I\u2019m afraid I don\u2019t know how to use that.\u2019<\/p>\n

 \u2018She forgot her PIN number,\u2019 the woman behind the counter piped up. \u2018She needs to call her bank. She owes money for petrol.\u2019 The woman sighed. \u2018Those banks take so long to answer. Bloody banks.\u2019<\/p>\n

 Mrs. Hart smiled hearing the woman swear. The man smiled too. \u2018How much do you owe?\u2019<\/p>\n

 \u2018\u00a320. I have \u00a310.57 in my purse\u2026but that still leaves me rather short.\u2019<\/p>\n

  \u2018It\u2019s \u00a320 and a penny,\u2019 the woman said. \u2018It\u2019s annoying that isn\u2019t it, how it always goes to that extra penny no matter how careful you are.\u2019<\/p>\n

 \u2018Yes,\u2019 the man said, digging into his jacket pocket. \u2018Always that extra penny.\u2019 He drew out a \u00a310 note. The note was crinkled and worn, as if it had gone through several washing cycles.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Hart stared at the note. She wavered between the temptation to snatch it out of his hand and the other part of her which demanded she refuse his help.<\/p>\n

\u2018Take it. Please.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018If you are sure\u2026I mean\u2026if you give me your address I can post you the \u00a310.\u2019<\/p>\n

 \u2018I don\u2019t have an address.\u2019<\/p>\n

 \u2018Really?\u2019 Mrs. Hart thought this was an odd thing to say. \u2018It\u2019s very kind of you. I appreciate this.\u2019 She held out her shaking hand and he pressed the note into her palm.<\/p>\n

 \u2018Think nothing of it.\u2019 The man paid for his fuel and walked out onto the forecourt.<\/p>\n

 \u2018Well, that\u2019s a rare thing,\u2019 the woman said, taking the two ten pound notes. \u2018Don\u2019t worry about that penny.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I feel so foolish. He got me out of a tight spot. Have you seen him before?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018No. Do you need a receipt?\u2019<\/p>\n

Mrs. Hart shook her head. At that moment the sound of motorbike engine made her turn her head. The woman looked out too. They watched as the man drove slowly across the forecourt. At the junction with the road, the bike came to a halt. Mrs. Hart assumed he was waiting for a gap in the rush-hour traffic. But no. He wasn\u2019t waiting for that; he was waiting for something else altogether. Like a fern unfolding in time-lapse, two white wings sprouted out of his jacket. They grew quite large. They looked like swan\u2019s wings. Then, still astride the bike, the man lifted up into the dark blue sky and was gone.<\/p>\n

 \u2018Well I never,\u2019 Mrs. Hart said, blinking and rubbing her eyes. \u2018Did I imagine that or\u2026?\u2019<\/p>\n

The woman behind the counter said nothing. She stood there at the till, her mouth wide open, by the thick gloves and the bars of chocolate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This flash was a runner-up in the 2017 WOW competition Mrs. Hart\u2019s PIN number might have been her son\u2019s birthdate or something else altogether but, whatever it was, the number had now flown out of her head as if it had never existed. The woman behind the counter frowned. \u2018Try again.’  Mrs. Hart got distracted … Continue reading PIN Number<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":726,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/874"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=874"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1175,"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/874\/revisions\/1175"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bronwengriff.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}