A Rather Amazing Story Unravelled

If you haven’t yet read my article A Rather Amazing Story yet, I highly recommend that you do, so that this article makes sense. Without reading the original story, this article will really be meaningless. You should see the previous part of the story in the list of Recent Articles on the right hand side of the page.

Ok, I assume if you are reading this then you have read the original article, A Rather Amazing Story. If not, then I guess you might after reading this one, but it really won’t have the same effect.

I really thought when I wrote this story for the First Of April that people would understand it, but it seems from the comments I received that so many didn’t, in fact it looks like maybe 4 out of 5 people who read it missed the point.

So as to not disappoint everyone, I will let you in on some secrets.

Are you ready?

Right. If you remember, A Rather Amazing Story sees me taking my dog for a walk on the common, and having a strange adventure.

Here are some facts…

I took my dog for a walk on the common

My dog was a German Shepherd / Border Collie cross

Common land is where the common people could graze their animals

There is a site of a Roman camp on the common

My Stepmother was a well known medium

She could see figures at the Roman camp

There is a stream that flows out of the ground

My dog loved to chase birds and animals

We came across a rabbit and my dog just stared at it

The dog and rabbit starred at each other

They wandered off into the woods together

I followed them and heard strange noises

The noises sounded like “Genoa deh-itis”

Well how many of you thought that this was all true and went “WOW”?

More than a few of you from the comments…

I will tell you now, that not everything I told you was true, but do you know which facts were real and which were not?

To let you out of your misery…

I used to take my dog for a walk on the common, and he was indeed a German Shepherd / Border Collie cross.

Common land was allocated in medieval times for common people to graze their animals, now it’s parkland.

This common does have the site of a Roman camp, as well as the source of a spring that flows across the common.

My stepmother was a well known medium, and could see figures at ancient sites in England. She did see Roman soldiers at this camp.

My dog loved to chase birds and animals, but we never saw any animal that he just stayed and starred at.

At this point the facts come to an end, and the fiction begins…

We never did see a rabbit that my dog made friends with.

They didn’t wander off into the woods together.

And finally, I didn’t hear those mysterious words whispered in the woods.

Oh yes, those mysterious whispered words, “Genoa deh-itis”…

Try saying them out loud, and put the emphasis on the first syllable of the second word. “Genoa deh-itis”, “Genoa deh-itis”…

A handful of people got close, and I let them in on the secret, but for the rest of you…

“Genoa deh-itis”, “Genoa deh-itis”, “Ja know what day it is?”, “Do you know what day it is?”

Does it make sense now?

If you think about the date that this article was published, it was the first of April, otherwise known as April Fools Day!

Do you know what day it is?

April Fool!

I hope you enjoyed the story, and I hope you are now suitably enlightened.

I would love to hear what you thought of the story and my trickery, and maybe some ideas for future stories or ways to make this even better.

Happy Easter, and Thank You so much for making this story one of the most commented on Associated Content for April Fools Day.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. The common does in fact exist, it’s Wimbledon Common, only about a mile from the famous Wimbledon Tennis Club that everyone has heard of. It has the site of a Roman Camp, a spring, and also a working Windmill. It’s a great place to walk the dog or take the children for a walk and a picnic.

This story in two parts was written by me and originally published on Yahoo Voices. I hope you enjoyed it.