MULTIPLY Wordsmiths Challenge #7: Peggy and Modern Life

Peggy remembered when the first telephone was installed in the family house many years ago. As time went one she grew up and the telephone became just something that everyone had, although they were the first family in the street that had it connected. Everyone that had something to say to others would knock at the door asking if they could possibly used the telephone.

Now things were different. Her children decided to surprise their mother, not a birthday, nor Christmas. There was no real reason, but whether she wanted it or not she was now the proud owner of a mobile, handy, cell phone or whatever. Peggy was not stupid; she even understood the computer and was a member of Facebook. That was also something the children told her to do.

“You know it is really fun mama, you can build a farm, belong to a town and even have a fight with the Mafia or become a vampire.”

Although Peggy found this not absolutely necessary, she did start building a small farm. In the meanwhile it became quite large, and she was a faithful fan of her little plot somewhere in Facebook land. She even had neighbours, people she really only knew by name, but they were neighbours.

Peggy was just not so sure about this new telephone thing. If Dan, her late husband, was still alive, she was sure he would have known exactly what to do.

“Isn’t it expensive to call people Catherine?” Peggy asked her daughter.

“No mum, we have had a card put into it, so you don’t have to register it with the telephone company. Just fill the card up when it is empty with some money. You will soon get the hang of it.”

Catherine gave Peggy a quick course in how to operate the telephone and said that her brother Jeremy would be paying a visit at the week-end and would answer any questions she might have. Catherine left as she had to pick the children up from school and Peggy was left alone with her new toy. Then the worst that could happen, happened. It rang. At first Peggy was sure the music on the radio was too loud, and she never listened to that programme where all the loud modern music was played. She wanted to switch off the radio but was surprised to find that it was not on, although she could still hear the music. She followed the noise and arrived at the new mobile telephone which was laying on the table. She picked it up and dropped it again. Not only did it sound as if a full group of musicians were playing but it was moving. It shook in her hand, real vibrations.

Peggy just did not know what was happening. It seemed that the telephone had a life of its own. She suddenly noticed that the screen was displaying a number and recognised it as belonging to Jeremy.

Peggy was no beginner, she could manage quite well on her own, but she was sure that she had done something wrong and decided to call Jeremy. His phone rang a few times and suddenly she had Sue on the phone, Jeremy’s wife.

“Hello mum, nice to hear from you. Is it ok with Sunday in that case?”

“Sorry Sue” Peggy answered “I don’t quite understand. Is Jeremy there? I saw his name on that new telephone he gave me.”

“That’s right mum, Jeremy is in town, but he said he would call you on the way from his mobile.”

“He did Sue, but I must have done something wrong, that new telephone thing is shaking, so I had to drop it. I am now calling on the normal telephone.”

“Oh, mum, that’s what it does if someone rings. Probably the vibrator is switched on.”

“The what? Sue I am really a bit old for that sort of thing. I really don’t think that at my age I need a vibrator. Tell Jeremy to call me when he is home, but not on that cell phone thing, on the normal telephone.”

“Jeremy called to say he won’t be over at the week-end, but we thought it would be a better idea if you came to Sunday dinner. The kids would love to see you again.”

Sue then continued to explain how to switch the vibrations off. Peggy managed to follow the instructions and hoped that it was now normal. Five minutes later the telephone rang again, but this time it just peeped like a bird and thank goodness did not vibrate. There was a message written on the screen of the telephone with courtesy from the telephone company telling Peggy to send a return SMS as they wanted to know how she was satisfied with her new phone. So while Peggy was looking through the book to see what an SMS was the telephone rang again.

“Hello, hello, hello” said a strange voice with an accent that Peggy did not recognise.

This time she was ready. Catherine had told her to press the green button when someone called. At least the telephone was not shaking this time.

“Hello, who is calling please?”

“This is James, I want to be your friend.”

“Excuse me” answered Peggy “who is calling.”

“James is calling, I want to be your friend.”

“This is strange” she thought, not knowing anyone called James, but her daughter told her you can always see the telephone number on the screen from the person that is calling. Unfortunately Peggy did not recognise the number. She decided she wanted to be no-one’s friend so disconnected after five minutes of “I want to be your friend” and “who are you?”, not without noting the number on paper first of all. She still did not realise that she could trace the numbers on the mobile that had called after cancelling the call; poor Peggy.

Peggy searched in the telephone book and found the first numbers were those belonging to Nigeria. James was in Nigeria and wanted to be her friend. She decided that she would now make an attempt to call Catherine on the phone to ask if she knew anyone in Nigeria. She took the manual and did everything the instructions told her to, but with no result. The telephone then made a strange moan (at least it seemed to be a moan to Peggy) and closed down. It was no longer working.

So what was the next step? Peggy decided to buy some cows and chickens for her Facebook farm and plant some pumpkins. They looked so pretty on the computer.

The week-end soon arrived and Peggy was glad to see Jeremy. She took the mobile thing with her.

“Jeremy, I think I broke it. It doesn’t work any more.”

“What happened mum?” asked Jeremy.

“It was after that man James rang from Nigeria. The telephone went dead. I hope nothing has happened to him, he wanted to be my friend.”

“Mum, you have no money left on your card. I think you paid for James’ call as well as your answer. Looks like you have been tricked.”

“But that never happened with the other telephone.”

“You just have to be careful with that new telephone. If someone calls from a number you don’t recognise then just don’t answer. Cancel it.”

The evening Peggy went home and put her new mobile in the box it was in when she received it from her children. She took a walk up to the attic and put the box next to the box where the video machine was that her departed husband had bought. She remembered sadly back to the days when Dan would record all sorts of films from the television during the night, which they would watch together at a more suitable time. She never really got the hang of that machine and decided that the mobile would be in good company.

She returned to the apartment, went to the computer and bought some crops for the Facebook farm.

MULTIPLY United Friends Challenge #188 The Happy Dentist

Caghs' Challenge
In 500 words or less, write about a positive experience involving a dentist.
It may be true, it may be a fiction, but it MUST be in first-person.
Any format is acceptable.

I received one of those letters from the dentist last week, reminding me that I should show my teeth once again in his surgery. He found that eight months is long enough and probably was running out of money, or was he in a sadistic mood and decided that my mouth would be ideal for a clean up and if he is lucky, might even find a diseased root, or a nerve about to give up.

What to do? I naturally made an appointment with his words still ringing in my ears from the last time, that you actually save money by going regularly. I put my dental nerves together and found myself sitting in an empty waiting room. That is never good; it means it is your turn very soon.

“Good morning Mrs. Victim” the dentist said in a merry almost enthusiastic voice “please take a seat my nurse will attend to you.”

She did of course and covered me in a white sheet which seemed to resemble a shroud. I was given a paper bib and the chair was adjusted to the right level, sort of flat and morgue-like. The dentist arrived.

“Do you have any pain or problems?”

Did he expect an answer? Quite difficult under the circumstances, as the sucking device was already hanging from my lower lip and his cleaning instrument was poised for the attack.

After thirty minutes of radical scratching and scraping, he was finished. The usual glass of water was supplied to have a thorough mouth wash. From its colour, I did have the feeling that I had been transformed into a female vampire after his work.

“Everything is fine Mrs. Victim. We will see each other again in the surgery in eight months time. It seems that your teeth have improved to such an extent in the last two years that “The Dentist’s World”, an international magazine dedicated to our profession, would like to feature your mouth in one of the next issues.”

I was a little surprised “I beg your pardon?”

“The various x-rays of your teeth will be printed, along with an illustration of the finished work. Of course I will also be mentioned in the magazine.”

“You mean that thousands of dentists will be looking at my mouth? I don’t think I will be so keen on that. What do you mean by an illustration?”

“A photo will be taken, showing the result of the work.”

“Sorry, I answered, but I am not so enthusiastic” was my answer.

“I forgot to mention something, Mrs. Victim. You know this is so exciting for me to be featured in the magazine. I even have a chance to become dentist of the year.”

“And I will be patient of the year? No doctor, I don’t think so, but I interrupted, what did you forget?”

“Of course for all future visits to my surgery nothing will be charged. It is an honour to operate on such a perfect row of teeth.”

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MULTIPLY Creative Challeng #74: Thick as Thieves

“We are as thick as thieves
Mrs. Human is sure”
“Now who tore the curtains
Tabby, Nera, tell me more”

“It was not us cats
we were busy eating fish
Isn’t that true Fluffy cat?
Of course, we cleaned the dish”

Mrs. Human was annoyed
The curtains they were new
Tabby, Nera, Fluffy
Three cats without a clue

“Mrs. Human cannot be
We were all out in the shed
Together hunting mice
And then we went to bed”

“So who did the damage?
It could not be a ghost”
“Mrs. Human” said the cats
“We are innocent, let’s have a toast”

“It was the cat next door”
Said Fluffy with a grin
“we were all very busy
taking tuna from a tin”

“The cat next door
Is now away from home
She has gone on holiday
So cats please change your tone”

I decided to give it up
With the cats I will not fight
They are really thick as thieves
They stick together so tight.

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MULTIPLY Pete's Pick Week 9: Animosity

She smelt the animosity of the enemy in the air. She sniffed once, twice and was sure, this was not just an invitation, this was was a challenge. She sensed the presence of the threat and felt and smelt his breath. The more the distance between them was narrowed, the more agitation was felt by both parties.

First of all she hissed, loud and forceful hoping that would drive fear into his body. It might be that he would turn, and decide to avoid the inevitable. She hissed again, her voice carried through the night, others picked up their ears, the fight would soon begin.

She moved forward, nearer to the foe, she could almost taste his breath her nostrils quivered with the expectation of the smell of fresh blood. Another hiss, louder than the last one in the hope that he would turn away, but this time there was no mercy, he was as ready as she was.

The fight began, the noise echoed in the night, until others listened, but behind closed doors and windows. So frightful was the sound that no-one dared to intervene. This was just between the two of them. A fight for the right of being, of living.

He fought with pure strength, attempting to tear her apart, lashing out and howling as much as his lungs would allow. She was sly, clever, and was quick in avoiding his attempts to injure, or even kill her. This could have been a fight to the death, were it not for a decision made by a power higher than both of them.

The heavens opened and it rained in torrents. The two cats scurried away, forgetting any plans to increase the size of their territory. Tomorrow was another day and they were longing for something more important. At home there was a plate of food waiting for both of them, and a warm place in a cushion to sleep.

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MULTIPLY The Horror of it All, Challenge #9: End Station

The train was waiting at the station for the signal to leave. Gilbert had to run. Things did not go as well as he had planned and he only caught the train at the last minute. He jumped on the steps just as it was pulling out and managed to find his balance in the corridor. The wheels began to turn pulling the train out of the station along the rails and Gilbert breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked along the corridor searching for a quiet place to rest. Still out of breath, but now glad that he could take it easy. He found a compartment with an empty seat and sat down, hoping that no-one would acknowledge him and start talking. He did not even have a newspaper or book to bury his head in. Everything had to happen so quickly. He looked out of the window. It was evening, but quite bright, it was a full moonlit night. “Typical” he thought, "on such a night I have to travel where everyone can see me”. He would have preferred less light, it was then that the train entered a tunnel and he had his wish. Nothing could be seen, it was quiet and dark prevailed.

To Gilbert it seemed like a never ending tunnel, but it did not bother him. He closed his eyes and slept, confronted with his dreams of the past.

“Next Saturday at the theatre after curtain fall. Here is your ticket. You know what to do” said his client adding “and make sure you don’t miss.”

Gilbert never missed. He could not afford to miss, it was his job.

After the killing he managed to get to the station. He knew he was tight on time, and he still had the gun with him. He was hoping to be able to dispose of it on the moving train, and decided to relax until the tunnel came to an end. He would then take a walk in the train and throw the gun out of a window at the next best opportunity.

Suddenly the train jolted and shook Gilbert enough to bring his doze to an end. The tunnel had come to an end and although the moon was still shining it seemed to be casting a reddish glow on the landscape. He looked around and saw that the compartment was almost empty, with the exception of a man sitting opposite Gilbert.

The man laughed “Had a good sleep?” he asked.

Gilbert was not in the mood for a conversation, but decided he did not want to cause any trouble. “Thank you, yes” was his answer. “We must have stopped at a few stations on the way while I slept, I see that the compartment is now almost empty.”

“Oh yes” said the stranger “there was one part of the journey where everyone left the train except for us.”

Gilbert thought this a strange answer and examined his neighbour closer. He was dressed completely in black; black trousers, a long black coat and wearing a white shirt with a black tie. His face was a great contrast to the darkness of his clothes and seemed to be reflecting in the red glow of the surrounding light outside the train.

“Do we have far to the end station?” Gilbert wanted to know. The train was destined for the coast and Gilbert was eager to take the ship across the channel to France; to disappear in another country.

“I believe our journey is almost finished” said the neighbour. “If you look further out of the window you will see your destiny.”

“My destiny? Sounds like a complete final solution. I only want to travel to the end station.”

“As I said, take a glance out of the window, the end station is quite near.”

Gilbert looked out of the window and saw only the fields passing by, illuminated by the glow of the moon. It was then that he saw a reflection on the fields of the train, but something unexpected. Not just the train carriage, but a shape on the roof of the train. He looked up and heard his carriage companion laugh.

“Everything under control” he said. “It is only the survivors that reached the membership of the human race. The train travelled over a red light just before you began to sleep and found its end station in the pillar of a bridge. Some of the fellow travellers had to continue their journey in another direction, but they will be cared for into eternity, like yourself Gilbert.”

Gilbert was feeling rather strange “I don’t understand. What is that “thing” perched on the train roof and what is happening. Is this a bad joke?”

“Oh no, the joke is on you Mr. Gilbert. After so many successful jobs, it is now your turn. You were amongst those that stopped existing after the train crashed. You can perhaps be proud that your last job was the Prime Minister of the country where you lived. Sorry for the past tense, but you will now come with me and my friend on the roof of the train. Our journey is eternal, some might say, the journey to hell.”

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MULTIPLY Rita's "Ritin" Challenge #42 On the Beach

“Beaches are just not the same anymore.”

Simon was not happy. He wanted to spend the day at home in the garden, relaxing in a comfortable place reading a book, but no. The kids were bored and his wife Marian decided it would be a good idea to go to the beach. The boys would love a day out swimming in the sea and playing on the beach.

“Anything for a quiet life” Simon thought and he packed the beach ball, swim ring and towels in the car. Marian was not just watching, she was preparing some food to take with them. So Simon climbed into the car, two boys in the back seats and Marian at his side and tried to prepare himself psychologically for a day out with the family. He was not happy. They eventually arrived. He was glad that there were few people on the beach, and managed to persuade himself that it would not be so bad after all. Spreading his towel out on the beach he made himself comfortable and began to read.

“Hey daddy, come and play.” It was Harry, the youngest of the two boys.

“Harry go and play with your brother Tom.”

“I can’t dad, he is being miserable and crying.”

Simon was immediately awake. “What is the matter with Tom.”

“He climbed up that big ring thing sticking half way out of the beach and fell off” was the answer.

Simon walked over to Tom to see the damage. “What’s the trouble son? Does it hurt?”

“Like hell dad, fell on my foot, look.”

Simon was not happy with what he saw. The ankle was twice as large as usual and already changing into a bluish colour. Simon walked over to Marian, but where was she. She was nowhere to be seen.

“Harry do you know where your mother is?”

“She said she was going to that place where the ladies go, you know, the toilet.”

“Aha, I see.” So there was nothing for Simon to do but just wait.

In the meanwhile Harry got impatient. “I am going for a swim dad” he said and before Simon could say no, he was gone. Marian eventually arrived from her visit.

“Marian, we have a problem” said Simon.

“I know” answered Marian.

“How comes you know, did you see Tom fall off that big concrete piece of nuisance.”

“I havn’t got a clue what you are talking about Simon. I mean my lip.”

“What’s wrong with your lip. Oh yes, I can see, it is quite swollen.”

“Of course it is, I decided to take a cola and there was a bee sitting on the glass. It stung me on the lip, see how it is swelling up, I think I will have to go to the doctor.”

In the meanwhile Simon heard quite a commotion on the beach and he saw one of the beach staff dragging a body out of the sea which had a remarkable likeness to Harry. Yes it was Harry.

Simon ran as fast as he could, and arrived just as Harry started coughing water up out of his lungs. The lifeguard had probably saved his life after seeing him go under water for the third time. Harry had caught his foot in some seaweed and everything got out of control.

Eventually Simon did manage to read his book in quiet. While he was waiting in the hospital for Tom’s foot to be x-rayed and afterwards put into plaster, the ligaments were torn. The doctor said he would be all right eventually, but it would take a few weeks until he could walk again. Marian was being kept in hospital as she was allergic to bee sting and she remained under observation. And Harry, he just had to stay in hospital to make sure there had been no permanent damage done.

“Beaches are just not the same any more.”

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MULTIPLY United Friends Challenge #187: Who sent it?????

Sumax's Challenge
A shoebox-size parcel is received in the mail. The handwriting is unknown to the recipient.
Write a short story telling us what the parcel contains, why it was sent, and who sent it?

No free samples or gimmick sales promotions allowed

Donald Grant opened the door to see who was there. It was the postman with a shoebox sized parcel, it was even registered. He signed, closed the door and put the parcel on the table. It was then that the problems began for Donald.

“Who would send me a parcel?” was his first thought. He had a closer look at the box. It had been wrapped carefully in brown packing paper, probably to ensure that it arrived safely and was also bound with string. He scrutinized the handwriting on the box, but was even more left in doubt, he just could not recognise it.

Donald was not used to receiving parcels, especially when they looked so anonymous. Of course, he got the usual rubbish from advertising companies and there was the odd item that he might have ordered, but this parcel was no such thing. It had no sender on it and the address was written in a bright red ink. He shook the parcel and it seemed that something inside was moving. It sounded like a single object, something quite hard.

“Shall I open it? No, I will have some dinner first. No good opening parcels on an empty stomach” and so he prepared a meal. He lived on his own in a small apartment, but he was a very neat person. He hated people that were messy. Just could not envisage that anyone could live somewhere that was not tidy. No, in Donald’s world everything was in its place.

Donald had never married, but this also had its reasons. There was just no woman good enough for his tastes. He had met a few, gone out with them, but he soon noticed that they were not up to his organised standards. All they had to do was open their handbag and Donald could see how untidy the owner was. Generally when the lady had to search for something, perhaps a handkerchief, or her purse he felt sick just looking. No, he must have order in his life.

Another thing that really annoyed him were stains. You think you have found someone on your own level of intelligence and then taking a closer look you find that your date is wearing a blouse with a stain on the sleeve, or even worse on the collar. Such things should not be allowed.

After dinner Donald was just about to have a sleep when the parcel again caught his eye. Still on the table with an inviting shape as if saying “Please open me”, but Donald was tired.

It was soon evening and the parcel was still not opened.

“Donald don’t be silly” he said to himself. It is just a normal cardboard box, although the writing in red ink does look strange.

To take his mind off the unknown parcel, he decided to switch the television on. He just caught the news.

“Typical” he thought “what the human race is coming to” when they were bringing a report about a corpse that had again been discovered sitting on a park bench. It was the fifth found body found over the last six months. The strange thing was that the corpses were all so well organised. They were sitting nicely arranged and there were no clues, just a cut throat, but no blood. It seemed that the murderer had taken time to clean up the place of the crime.

Donald decided to change the television station and watch something more relaxing. He was annoyed but after changing through at least ten stations showing horror and murder, he eventually found something to his taste: a hospital series, showing his favourite nurses and doctors, all such nice clean antiseptic people.

He was getting ready for bed but then decided no, that parcel must be opened. If it was a time bomb it would have exploded some time ago. He removed the parcel to the kitchen and put his special rubber gloves on, after all you never know, perhaps someone was sending him some sort of powder infected with a virus disease. You just cannot trust anyone these days.

He took the scissors and cut the string and then removed the packing paper, folding it neatly, in case he might need it again. He also rolled the string into a ball and placed it in one of the drawers in the kitchen, where other such bundles of string were kept. The parcel was ready to be opened. He lifted the lid.

Now Donald’s problem was that he was one of those so called split personality types. Today he was honest organised Donald, going through his daily routine and keeping everything in order. When he sent himself the parcel containing the Swiss officer's army knife, covered in blood from his last victim, he was not Donald the nice, but his other half, Donald the ripper I suppose you could say. Donald the ripper would have recognised the handwriting on the parcel immediately, but, of course, Donald the nice did not know of the existence of his other half who also had a different style of writing. He was naturally horrified at what he found in the parcel.

When he woke up the next morning he took another look at the knife and cleaned it completely, he even sterilised it, he had to be careful with any evidence that could be found. “That will come in handy this evening” was his last thought. The box was still lying in the kitchen on the table; he just threw it onto the floor, not bothering about the mess

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MULTIPLY Images and Words Week 23: Home

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