Sunday, May 18, 2008

Telephones, Jingle Bells & The Ringing in My Ears

Christmas time...
The starry,twirly lights were strung on a potted plant wedged into the corner.
The house had dwindled from four feet and twenty paws to two feet and eight paws.
Piles of gifts sat around the tree, not in wrapping paper, but all in gift bags.
They didn't have tags, but yellow post-it notes.
'Mother.' '12 year old girl.' '10 year old girl.' '6 year old girl.'
I kept hearing the sound of little jingle bells & thought I must be going crazy.
The phone kept ringing, but I didn't want to answer it.
I followed the sound of the jingle...it always seemed to be coming from around the corner or just on the other side of the wall.
I answered the phone once.
I looked in the bathroom & the kitchen.
I answered the phone a hundred times.
I looked in the gift bags and on the front porch.
I unplugged the phone.
I looked in the trunk and on the floorboard.
The phone stopped ringing.
The little brass jingle bells continued to ring.
In my world, the collectors stopped calling & the holiday spirits rang on.
Five months later, I plugged the home phone back in and went to bed.
I awoke at 4:22 am to the faint sound of jingle bells.
I went back to sleep, finding peace in the jingles.
At 9:02 am....r-r-r-ring, r-r-r-ring, r-r-ring.
The Collectors & the Peace Keepers.

Artwork by my beautiful sister,Singleton of The Hippie Parade & Just Give Me Peace.

10 comments:

Shimmerrings said...

I like this crazy story... rrring... jingle... rrring... jingle again, lol. Merry Jingle, to you!

Shimmerrings said...

and ps... I love that pic of hers... The Kiss :)

singleton said...

I heard those bells.....both of them....
ILY Nadine!
And ILY!
Six twenty.....Ring those bells, baby!

Mel said...

Ah, for the sound of lovely bells.

Not those of the ringing phone, mind you.
And cellphone 'tones'?
C'mon.....whatever happened to that jingle of the phone and the bolt from the backyard where you were enjoying the solace?
Cellphones......*blech*

The best thing about cellphones is they turn off. ;-)

*hugs on a Tuesday morning*

~Babs said...

Music to the ears with that phone unplugged!
Sometimes bells are lyrical, while other times silence is truly golden!

kj said...

you are something else, skinny. i love the way you live in the world...

:)

skinnylittleblonde said...

Shimmerings.....Ewww, I LOVE 'The Kiss' also! She's gorgeous.

Singleton...Sometimes they are like a marching band. ILYSVM!

Mel...hugs to you, my dear. In about a month I am going on a vacation. I am already telling my staff 'I am going on vacation by XYZ National Park and cell phones do not work there.' The only ringing will be me and my sisters ringing another day down together!

Wilsonart...Sometimes, I love the sound of silence and I just might have to unplug this home phone again.

kj...lol, yep, no drama needed in the homefront means no TV and no bill collectors calling means no phone, in my little world. Life is as simple as we make it ;)

Mel said...

Aww......a sister vacation!

I had one of those last year and am due another one very soon.
There's the place that I call 'home'......wherever our feet may be........

Lucky youse guys! :-)

Me said...

Together sad and hopeful.

Much <3!

skinnylittleblonde said...

Mel...you are so right...when with our sisters, home is where we are!I cannot wait...miss them so very much!

Lol, Orhan...ringy, lingy, ling.