telling stories...

Now there are some things we all know, but we don’t take’m out and look at’m very often. We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars…everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings…There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being (III.25).

Our Town

Thornton Wilder

"Maybe sometimes we should be story facilitators and help others tell their own stories instead of doing it for them."

Jordan Bryon

     Everyone has a story in them, waiting to be told. As we finish our section on the short story, I have selected two pieces for you. May they bless you as they have me.


One Moment
A true story by Ella Rosenberg

     My life was shattering. My father was diagnosed with stage 4 Metastatic Melanoma on April 21, 2011. He was 40.

     After Dad's surgery to remove a swollen lymph node, Mom offered to take me out for ice cream while Dad rested.
     "Sure," I said happily. 
     It wasn't often we went for ice cream, so naturally I thought we were celebrating Dad's successful surgery. Mom and I pulled out of the driveway and merrily made our way down the road. Or, so I thought. Instead of turning onto the main road we kept straight.
     "Mom?" I asked nervously, feeling an ominous dread creeping into me.
     Mom pulled the car onto the shoulder of the street, gently took both of my hands, and choked out, "Ella, Daddy has cancer. I am so sorry baby."
     My mind was taking in every detail of that one moment. The day was warm, sunny. Flowers were coming up- new life reaching, pushing, through the dull, dead grass. The pond had geese, a family stopping for a quick rest as they flew home to the north. I looked at Mom, my eyes widening. "What did you just say?"
     A sob escaped her lips as she squeezed my hands, softly. "It's bad, Ella. It's really, really bad, darling. I stared at her. Surely, I thought, this is a dream.
     "No... No, it can't... Oh, No..." Tears stung my eyes which were filling rapidly.
     "I love you so much, Ella," Mom quietly whimpered.
     Dads are supposed to be invincible. They don't die. They're anchors, strong, permanent. 'He never gets sick,' I thought to myself, vainly trying to hold myself together. 'He's so strong and tough.' I was shaking. Sobs of despair, like monsters, beat against my ribcage trying to get free. Mom unbuckled her seatbelt and cradled me to her chest. "I'm so sorry, my dear Ella. I'm so sorry, my baby. I'm so sorry..." She babbled mindlessly, trying to soothe both herself and me with kind nothings. I knew in the moment before she held my hands, before she told me, that this moment- this snag in time, a moment smaller than a grain of sand in the Desert of Time... less than a drop in the Ocean of Significance... this moment would forever change my life. 'I love Daddy so much,' I thought. 'I don't want him to leave us...' I inwardly scorned myself for thinking such thoughts, for wallowing in self pity. 'He's not dead yet. You have to be strong. For Mom. For Lucy. For yourself. For him. For the bravest man you know.
For Daddy.'

Recollections

by Connor Phillips

One day my Daddy and Billy Yarbrough were shooting at a bird on a pond. Then Billy thought it would be funny to shoot at Daddy. So, when Daddy found out what was happening, he said, “Hey! I'm over here!” and Billy said, “I know!” So Daddy shot back. I reckin they ran out of shells.

Back in the 1920's, my Grandpaw's daddy sent him to the country store to get a can of sardines. So, while he was up there, a couple of his buddies were there. He stayed and talked 'til it got dark. Back then, the roads were sand. There was an old man that had died out in the woods along the road. This thought got to workin' on his nerves and he got scared. So he pedaled his bike faster and faster 'til he ran into the back of a wagon. The man driving the wagon got scared and started whipping his mule and Grandpaw dumped out of the wagon and had to crawl around in the dark to find his sardines.

Daddy and his friend were goin' somewhere one day and they stopped by a KFC and Daddy's friend said, “What do you want?” Daddy said, “Nothing” 'cause he didn't have any money and he wasn't hungry. So when Daddy's friend came back he had two chicken dinner buckets and Daddy said, “I told you I didn't want anything.” His friend said, “I didn't get you none!”