The Market Jacket

Max bought a warm jacket at a second-hand market. At home, he found a paper note in one pocket. It said, "Meet me at the old clock. Saturday, twelve."

There was no date or name. Max wondered who wrote it. The market was open again the next morning, so he took the note back to the woman at the stall.

She read it and began to laugh. "That was my husband's jacket. He gave me a note before our first meeting and kept this copy. That was many years ago."

"Did you meet him at twelve?" Max asked.

"No. I went to a different clock! We had to try again the next weekend."

She showed Max a photograph beside the cash box. It was a picture of her and an older man.

Max gave her the note. She put it carefully behind the photo. "The jacket fits you," she said. "But I'm very happy to have this back."