A Story about Reaching Out and Touching Someone

[Charean]

"A friend who always lend a hand,
A friend in both sorrow and joy,
A friend who offers good counsel,
And a friend who sympathises too

These are four kinds of True Friends,
And one who is wise, having understood this,
Will always cherish and serve such friends,
Just as a mother tends her only child."
(D III 186)

And this story I found on the internet... it always chokes me up.

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well the polished old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother would talk to it. Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person - her name was "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know. "Information Please" could supply anybody's number, and even the correct time!

My first personal experience with this genie-in-the-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there didn't seem to be any reason in crying because there was no one home to give me any sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone!

Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver and held it to my ear.

"Information Please," I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. After a click or two, a small clear voice spoke into my ear.

"Information."

"I hurt my finger. . ." I wailed into the phone. The tears came readily enough, now that I had an audience.

"Isn't your mother home?" came the question.

"Nobody's home but me." I blubbered.

"Are you bleeding?"

"No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts."

"Can you open your icebox?" she asked. I said I could.

"Then chip off a little piece of ice and hold it to your finger," said the voice.

After that, I called "Information Please" for everything. I asked her for help with my geography and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me that my pet chipmunk I had caught in the park just the day before would eat fruits and nuts.

Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called "Information Please" and told her the sad story. She listened, then said the usual things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But, I was un-consoled. I asked her, "Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?" She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow I felt better.

Another day I was on the telephone. "Information Please."

"Information," said the now familiar voice. "How do you spell fix?" I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was 9 years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much.

"Information Please" belonged in that old wooden box back home, and I somehow never thought of trying the tall, shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall.

As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me. Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity, I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about half an hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then, without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information, please."

Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well, "Information." I hadn't planned on this but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?"

There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now."

I laughed. "So it's really still you," I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time."

"I wonder", she said, "if you know how much your calls meant to me. I never had any children, and I used to look forward to your calls."

I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.

"Please do," she said. "Just ask for Sally."

Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, "Information." I asked for Sally. "Are you a friend?" She said. "Yes, a very old friend," I answered.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," she said. "Sally had been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago."

Before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute. Did you say your name was Paul?"

"Yes."

"Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you." The note said, "Tell him I still say there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean."

I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.




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Defender for the Light -
Goodness knows there is a lot of Dark out there!! - Where are my matches?!?
Wandering Soul - Finding my life's calling is Bodhisattva
And so, in the way of life, one must perservere in the face of adversity (or in this case, the face of a fluffy) and continue on the quest so bring truth, justice and the feng shui way to the world (or at least, make my truck look nice!)
And if you are still reading, I am taking suggestions for my next installment...

[Fljotsdale]

Oh, Charean. You made me cry.

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[Staralfur]

A truly sad but wonderful story. Thankyou Charean.

[Melusine]

Beautiful. Great story, Charean!!

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Melusine, High Queen of Fluffies, Archbabe of the Order of the Holy Flame and the Laughing Hyenas, &
Official Entertainer Elf of the BG2 Bar

Your voice is ambrosia

[Lady Avalon]

Beautiful, wonderful story Charean. Thanks.

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[DawnChaser]

Some stories can call up emotions more vividly through words, than the most beautifully rendered painting, or captured moment of a photograph. This is such a story. Thank you.

"Something is wrong with my eyes! They're all wet, and it is hard to focus on things! What's wrong with me?!?"

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[This message has been edited by DawnChaser (edited 06-14-2001).]

[WOLFGIR]

A wonderful story Charean! *hugs*

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Yawning lazywolf dreaming about nice little fairies...zzzzz

[Moridin]

Wonderful story Charean I wonder if there is a kid out there right now trying the same thing and only getting a recording

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Ever wonder if illiterate people get the full effect from alphabet soup?