A Little Real-Life Story

I love "little real-life stories." They're tiny little things, sometimes practically just a scene, but they say a lot about people, and about life.

One of my favorite ones from a sister is this: She was walking around the block, and as she rounded the corner, she saw a little boy untangling himself from his bicycle, where he'd just fallen. He looked determined not to cry, and sort of embarassed as he was standing up, but once on his feet, he hopped on his little bike and rode away quickly.

I like that one. It's just the ending of a story, but it's a nice little scene. What made the boy crash his bike? We'll never know. What we do know is that he was embarassed but brave. And that's all we need to know.

Once, before my cell phone, I was lost at night on the way to a friend's new place. I was kind of in the middle of a wintery nowhere, but there was a little gas station with a pay phone, so I pulled in. There was a guy huddled up the phone, stamping his feet to keep warm. As I got out of the car, he shouted into the phone, "Dammit Janice--it's VALENTINE'S DAY!" slammed it down and drove off. As I reached the phone, it rang. It was Janice. I had to tell her Dave drove off. And then I realized Dave was right. I'd forgotten--It was Valentine's Day.

So many little things going on in that one.

The reason I thought of little real life stories is that the Boy called a few minutes ago becasue he needed to tell me one he'd just seen: He was walking through the emergency room at his hospital, and some paramedics came rushing in with a guy on a gurney--obviously writhing in pain and roaring, "My left nut!! My left nuuut!!" The nurse at the desk looked up and primly inquired, "Now what do we have here?" One of the paramedics looked back and seriously said, "It's his left nut, Ma'am."

Come on! Do little real stories get any better than that?

And good luck with your... um... nut, Buddy. Seriously.