13

Okay, so I have triskaidekaphobia and paraskevidekatriaphobia and even friggatriskaidekaphobia, and that makes me superstitious, but so what - what if there is something in it?

After all, I’m not the only one, lots of people are worried by the number thirteen (triskaidekaphobia) and are apprehensive about Friday the thirteenth (paraskevidekatriaphobia and friggatriskaidekaphobia), it isn’t unusual.

I wonder if the crew of Apollo thirteen were a superstitious lot? If they were I guess that they must have been clutching lucky rabbit’s foots when they took off from Cape Kennedy on the eleventh of April, 1970, maybe they were still clutching them two days later on April thirteenth when the mission was aborted due to the explosion. ‘They were lucky to have survived’ the papers wrote at the time. All down to the rabbit’s feet I guess.

Formula one drivers must be a superstitious bunch; there hasn’t been a number thirteen car in a F1 race since 1974. I can understand why – why take unnecessary chances when driving at those speeds? Thinking about it though, I really don’t understand why - isn’t that what they do for a living? What is more dangerous travelling at one hundred and eighty miles an hour around hairpin bends in the rain or having thirteen on the side of your racing car?

I’ve been on planes where there is no row thirteen, in hotels with no room number thirteen and up tall buildings where there’s no thirteenth floor. Even the road where I live has no number thirteen, at least none that I’ve ever found. I’ve been inside number twelve and often walked past number fourteen, but as yet I’ve never come across thirteen. I hope I never do. What would it be like if I was walking down my road one evening and noticed a gate with the thirteen curse on it? Would I be tempted to go up to the front door and ring the bell - thirteen times?

That gives me an idea for a story - I’ll call it ‘TheThirteen Club’, it’ll be about a group of people who set out to prove that the number thirteen isn’t unlucky. In my story they form a club and meet on Friday the thirteenth at eight thirteen in the evening. There will be thirteen of them and they will meet at number thirteen (the house that isn’t there) at eight thirteen in the evening. The story will be about what happens to the last one to arrive - which might be nothing but I doubt it. Perhaps I should call it ‘The Thirteenth Guest’? Or perhaps it’s about this person who goes up the pathway to number thirteen, goes in, and meets twelve other people who have gained entry from other streets, up other pathways, into other thirteen’s all over the world – yes I like the sound of that one too.

Sounds like they could be a good stories, there could even be a book of short stories about thirteen, thirteen stories – now what would I call it?

I won’t write it now though – not on Friday the thirteenth – Friday the thirteenth can be a very bad day and no lucky rabbit’s foot can change that. Sometimes on Friday the tirteenth a story that has been a long time in the telling can begin to look like it is almost finished. I guess they'll be other stories but this was a fine one.