A Sad Story

I want to tell you a sad story.

A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless to protect his innocence and identity, had a terrible misfortune the other day. His name is Dr Quentin Ford, and he works as a medic in one of the hospitals nearby. I won't mention the hospital to protect Quentin's identity. He lives in an apartment block in a well-to-do part of town. High Vista Towers. Oh ... and he has a parrot too, named Coco, I believe. Not after Coco Chanel; but after his favourite drink. Coconut juice. That bit is important to the story. The fact that he has a parrot; not the fact that he loves coconut juice. Are you following so far? Because I am totally confused, I tell you.

Let's start from the beginning. Dr Quentin is a friend of mine and he lives in High Vista apartment block. Apartment number 728. Apart from that, I will not mention anything more about him.

He trained to be a heart specialist, but because he is so short he ended up specialising in knee surgery instead. That bit is not as important to the story as his possession of a parrot; in fact it is not relevant at all.

Anyway, one morning last week Quentin Ford noticed that the tap, (faucet), in his bath was dripping. He called a plumber who agreed to attend within the hour. That in itself is a miracle because usually plumbers do not come out in an emergency within a period of ten years. Anyway, the plumber said that the dripping tap, (faucet), will cause no great problem or flooding as the water will go down the plug hole, and that he'll attend straight-away.

Moments later my friend, the doctor, was called for an emergency at the hospital. Apparently a man had water on the knee - he was not aiming straight.

In his rush, Quentin forgot about the plumber.

About an hour later the plumber arrived at the apartment and rang the door bell. Quentin's parrot shouted from inside the apartment, "Who is it?"

The plumber said, "I am the plumber. I have come to fix the dripping tap!"

The parrot said again, "Who is it?"

The plumber replied, "I am the plumber. I have come to fix the dripping tap!"

The parrot asked, "Who is it?"

The plumber repeated loudly, "I am the plumber. I have come to fix the dripping tap!"

The parrot went on, "Who is it?"

The plumber shouted, "I am the plumber. I have come to fix the dripping tap!"

This went on for a good few minutes. Eventually, the plumber who had a weak heart and weaker knees, suddenly collapsed and died.

A neighbour found him and phoned the police.

When the Detective Chief Inspector arrived on the scene he asked, "Does anyone know who he is?"

The parrot replied, "He is the plumber and he has come to fix the dripping tap!"

PODCAST VERSION - 5 MINUTES LONG