Yesterday I helped execute a lovely surprise for a friend of mine.
One of my classmates here, the only male schoolmate of mine from London who is in Bratislava with me, has a girlfriend who also is a classmate of ours from Rosie B. About three weeks ago she contacted me, and kindly asked me to help her organise a surprise visit to her boyfriend, who shares the Bratislavan flat with me. I found the idea extremely exciting, and together we deviously plotted this grand surprise; she booked her flights (and took care not to fly in straight from her local airport), and I concocted a masterful lie that would help get my friend up to the Bratislava airport on the evening of his girlfriend´s arrival.

Early this week I finally told this white lie to my friend: A disabled friend of mine from Denmark was coming to visit me, as something awful had come up in his personal affairs, and he had asked to stay the weekend with me in Bratislava, while he got his head around this awful thing. I needed my classmate´s help to pick this friend of mine up at the airport, for getting him through public transport back to our flat might prove a difficult task for one, on account of his weelchair.

The story, of course, had some psychological depth to it, which I will not cover in detail - what matters is that my classmate, the sweetheart, said that of course he would help me, no question about it. The trap, thus, had been set.

We got through the week without him starting to suspect a thing, and last night the magical moment arrived. We got to the airport on time. On the way he had asked me some questions about my arriving friend, questions which I answered without hesitation, but the thickness of the plot proved worth every uttered lie.. his reaction, as he turned his head, expecting to see my poor friend roll out of the terminal, but seeing instead the smiling face of his beloved, was heart-stirringly beautiful. The pure, naíve and uncontained joy, in his shocked face and breaking voice, was indescribable.

Minutes before the actual moment, I found myself shivering with anticipation.. it had to work, it had to be successful, I simply had to see the love that indeniably would burst forth in their special moment.. and I did see it. It was beautiful. A blind man would have been able to smell it in the air, in that single moment where their eyes met, before my shocked friend managed to form his first word in his delirium d´amour. Truly touching. I am glad, and very proud, to have been a part of this.

My joy from this was twofold, however; firstly, just to be there and witness the reaction and the initial embrace of two lovers being reunited, and secondly, as causality might have it, perhaps one day I will be given a wonderful surprise of the sort that I have now helped to make possible. Perhaps I have by this made a cause, the effect of which will manifest itself identically, but to my pleasant surprise.
It is certainly an unforgettable experience for anyone, to have been successfully led astray by his friends, for the sake of such a moment. And selfish as it may sound for me to admit, that one of my incentives for helping out to the extent that I did, was my own desire for one day being the guy who turns his head to unexpectedly see his beloved, - it does not take away from the magnificence of my friend´s benefit from the results of my contribution to the cause.

In a nutshell; yesterday I enjoyed the beauty of my having harnessed my own selfish desire to someone else´s great benefit.

With pride,
..kH