One of my all time best stories and I'd like to share with the world, here it goes and the writer of this story is O Henry:
At an art conference, Joe meets Deliah. Joe is a painter who has been painting since his early childhood and he has already impressed people around, with his spectacular work. Deliah is a music lover and has received several accolades with her talents, within her circle and relatives.
After their first meeting, the love towards their respective art was responsible for binding them together. After sometimes they get married. Both of them had come away from home to pursue their career in their respective fields and thus a new life begins.
They both were enrolled in institutions where the class fee was extremely high. Hardships started squeezing them. The flat they were staying was the cheapest and the smallest, yet they were happy about their love towards art and towards each other as well. House keeping became tougher and tougher as the days progressed. The time was almost there when they both had to boycott their career and work to earn money instead.
One fine day, Deliah comes home elated. She tells Joe that she has got a pupil, a twelve year old daughter of General Pinkey. Three classes a week at five dollars a class. She was mnore than happy that she would earn fifteen dollars a week and with this earning, Joe could continue his art classes. She did not want Joe to quit his course and she also knew how bad it would be if one has to give up something that is adored the most or more precisely dreams. Hearing this, Joe did not feel as happy as Deliah because, he did not want his wife to sell her knowledge just to help him achieve his goals. After some conversation, Joe finally agrees to continue with his classes while his wife worked.
Joe on the other hand tells Deliah that he has been working on a paint which he hopes to sell it at a good price. Deliah keeps praying for her husband that his picture would be bought by a rich idiot at the best possible price.
One Friday, Deliah brings her pay and spreads them over the floor. In that very moment, Joe lays seventeen and a half dollar on the floor right beside the fifteen dollars. He says that a wealthy man from Peoria liked his painting so much that he instantly paid cash for the painting and more interestingly he has already ordered another one by the weekend. Joe and Deliah never had that much of money in a week so they decide to have a jazzy dinner that night.
Next weekend, Joe comes home a bit earlier, washes his hands and places eighteen dollar bills on the floor, waiting for Deliah. After about half an hour or so, Deliah shows up at the door with a bandage on her arm. He carefully inspects the bandage which is smoothly oiled. Joe gets worried, askes her what had happened. Deliah starts her sotry. She says that the daughter of the General insisted her to see their rabbits. While feeding the rabbit, one of them bit her hand. The servants then immediately medicated the wound by wrapping cotton dipped in oil for temporary relief. She also assures Joe that everything is fine and it had already stopped hurting.
At this point, Joe is shocked, “Don’t lie deliah”, he says as he draws her to the couch.
Deliah replies, “At around five”
Joe asks her, “At what time did the rabbit bite you? What have you been doing for the last two weeks?”
Deliah’s eyes fill with tears, and starts telling him the truth.
“Joe, I lied about the pupil and General Pinkey. I just work at the laundry and while ironing, I burnt my hands. I did not want you to quit your classes and with no other options left, I started working in that laundry. General Pinkey is a total fiction and I always had hard times making up stories. And if I hadn’t worked, you couldn’t have sold your painting to the man from Peoria. Are you angry with me Joe? Would you get mad at me for lying?”
Then Joe replies, “Deli, there is no one as such from Peoria. Today at five, a girl came rushing downstairs towards our hall for some help. She said that someone’s terribly hurt so I hurried myself and dipped a piece of cloth in the oil telling her to use this method for instant relief. I have been firing the engine in that laundry for the last two weeks.”
Both the general Pinkey and the wealthy man from Peoria are our creations but neither music nor painting. They both laugh and Joe says, “When one loves art, no service seems…”
But Deliah stops him with her hands on his lips. “No”, says she, “just when one loves”.
