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Fiction Contemporary

   She remembers how excited people were about Alexander Graham Bells invention at first. It changed people’s lives being able to talk to each other from any place in the world. Of course, It was slow getting started at first you had to go through an operator to place your call. Then you could place it directly.

Switch boards are a think of the past also. You can leave a message on a voice mail directory now. Ellen misses the time when they use to have phone booths in the street and weird shaped phones like radio phones they were big in the eighties.


   Ellen also misses her business of repairing phones for people. Now she gets the odd person from her ad in the yellow pages for fixing outdated phones. It's more of a hobby than anything else now.  The yellow pages another thing that will soon be completely a thing of the past. Cell phones look up numbers now and call them directly. Ellen doesn’t have a cell phone. Her last stand at rebellion against this wave of new technology.

   Her daughter Doris comes by to see her. 

   “Mom I couldn’t reach you yesterday and I had this awful thought that you had fallen and where dying in this old house.”

   “Don’t be so dramatic, you only live a few blocks away from me, If you were that concerned you should of come by”

    “Where were you yesterday?”

    “I had to meet a client at the library there old princess phone refused to work for them.”

   “Don’t get me started why again don’t you have a cell phone and join the 21st century.”

   “The main reason is I can’t figure out how those things work and I’m to old to learn new tricks.”

   “Mom there are simple versions of cells that even a child could master.” “Please tell me you’ll let me get you one” Doris pleads with her mother. 

   “I’ll think about it.” Ellen says.

   “Mom soon there will be no land lines and in order to make a phone call you’ll have to use a cell.”

    “I know you keep telling me and telling me, I’m not deaf you know.”

Doris gives up for now and makes her and her mother some lunch. Ellen is reminded of the time Doris was twelve and had to stay in her little shop all day watching her mother take apart and fix phones. Those were happier days for Ellen. She learnt a skill which although almost obsolete, she still enjoys doing. Ellen can’t wait to get that little pink princess phone apart and see what the trouble is. The problem really is with cell phones is they have taken away her lively hood. Her life’s work and she felt very proud of herself for being able to fix those phones.


   She is not like a clock fixer. They get so much respect and will always be in business fixing clocks. The older the clock is the more valuable it becomes. Oh well, That’s not her profession or skill. Her daughter finishes doing the dishes from lunch and gives her a kiss on the cheek farewell.


   She wonders if Doris realizes at her age change is hard. Or is she programmed to embrace change since her generation has always had to adapt to it. The phones are just the beginning of it. The personal computers, the printers and the televisions all have radically changed and are continually changing. The world can’t slow down. In fact, It’s speeding up to make way for the newest and the latest technologies. 

   Ellen knows what it fells like to be older, when you just can’t keep up with things. You have a hard time remembering where you’re keys are. When your doctors become suddenly younger than you are. These are all signs your growing old. Not to mention you get the odd knee or ankle pain that throbs and causes you to go seek physical therapy. She wonders how this happened to her. It doesn’t matter that it happens to most people. Ellen took it personally when she started to see the grey in her hair. When she had to give up certain foods and no doubt when she had to stop going to the gym for fear she would hurt herself.


   The next morning was a new day. She felt like a walk around the lake. Her back had been bothering her recently but a nice walk wouldn't hurt it.  The lake is three miles around and is quite a walk at her age. Still it’s important to exercise and Ellen does her part to be in good shape. She starts her walk every day with some stretches which felt strange but she does not pay any mind to it. On with her walk the fresh air will do her good.  Ellen does not feel so good half way into her walk. Her back is killing her. She doesn’t know why but there is shooting pain going all the way down her leg. She wishes she’d listened to her daughter now. If she had a cell phone she’d call her now. Instead, she leans on a rock and hopes some one will pass by soon to help her. She thinks about cell phones now and realizes they have their place in this ever changing world. Especially in an emergency like this one. After what seems like a half an hour a couple comes by and she asks them to call for help because she cannot walk or stand. The ambulance gets there soon after that and the couple waits with her till it gets there. She’s on her way to the hospital when she asks one of the ambulance aids to call her daughter. They look at her surprised and ask her if she’s lost her cell phone. She tells them the truth, she does not have one. They call and let her speak to her daughter who is at work. She tells her the hospital there taking her to and not to worry her back just gave out on her.


   They do an MRI on Ellen and find that she has a herniated disc. Doris is relieved that’s what it is. When she got the call she thought her mother was having a stroke. Doris tends to over dramatize in her mind. Ellen knows now that keeping up with things is actually staying alive in more ways than one. It’s the 21 st century enjoy all it has to offer. Don’t be stuck in the past, things get outdated for a reason. All it means is that someone has found a better way to do things. Ellen sees the future for the first time in a long time as an exciting new adventure. 

January 26, 2021 21:42

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2 comments

Nyla N
04:19 Feb 09, 2021

Awww, that was really sweet and it was a cool take on the prompt! I really like this paragraph, "She is not like a clock fixer. They get so much respect and will always be in business fixing clocks. The older the clock is the more valuable it becomes. Oh well, That’s not her profession or skill. Her daughter finishes doing the dishes from lunch and gives her a kiss on the cheek farewell." It made me think of the story in a different light and I really like the last sentence! Also, I would love it if you would check out my last story (I only...

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Ann Layne
17:12 Feb 09, 2021

Thanks for your insight. I liked that paragraph too. The story is fiction so I've been experimenting with those types of stories. I will check out your other story.

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