The entire incident unfolded late in the day, on a sultry afternoon in July.  The year was 1943.  The day, to be exact, was the 15th.  A Thursday.

Janice McGurty removed her wedding band to wash up some dishes from the noon meal.  Unfortunately for Janice (everyone knew her as “Bunny”)…… the ring had fallen off the edge of the sink, rolled the bottom twice, and proceeded to vanish into the hole in the drain.  Gone.  Bunny panicked.  Her husband would be furious, and she just couldn’t stand yet another one of his rampages.  Quickly (…. and ……always thinking on her feet)  Bunny dialed Lapinsky’s Plumbing.  They’d be right over.

The owner, Saul Lapinsky, showed up at the McGurty Household within the hour.  As he approached the front door, he could see that Janice was visibly shaking and upset.   (Saul had distantly admired Janice for many years now.  They went to grammar school together.  Fairenhold Elementary.)  As Bunny told Saul about the tight-spot she was in, he began to comfort her.  One thing led to another and……. And…….  holy crap…THIS IS MORNING INTERNET… that part of the story better be for a different Night at the Blog.

They finally got around to removing the catch pipe, and finding the ring.  The diamond was a bit mucky, but nothing a little warm soapy water wouldn’t fix.  Saul saved the day and Bunny would be forever grateful.  But she vowed that the symbol of her marriage would never go down the drain again.  The Plumber could never ring twice.

As Saul Lapinsky was leaving he turned to get one last glance of Janice… and THAT IS WHEN it happened….. the entire point of this story……

His wrench fell from his tool box, and directly into a section of concrete in the freshly poured sidewalk out front.  He was totally unaware of it.  Saul would never see his wrench from that day forward…. nor would he ever lay eyes on Janice again.  Sadness hung in the air like a pair of plumber’s pants.

For Saul…… A tool and his Bunny are soon parted.

He always wandered what happened to both of them.