Roy Exum
With all of the hoopla over transgendered athletes, you need to know there is a woman out there who is eager to be a ‘trans-species.’ She wants to be a bear. Not only that, but one night a mysterious Marine showed up in a hospital to stand final watch. And, as if that is not enough, a dog just answered a question that we human beings cannot. Almost every day I enjoy my Morning Readings, and as I discover one marvelous but unknown website after another, or someone’s blog they are eager to share, I am always intrigued when I find something from one of my favorite writers – Anonymous.
Down through the years, especially as the Internet gets bigger and bigger, I’ve meet Anonymous in the flesh several times.
Believe it or not, the occasions are rare but the ol’ boy writes at times just like me. To the very word and each misplaced comma. The first couple of times it made me mad – I wanted the credit -- but then it dawned on me I’d already hit the home run and who was I to care if the story stayed alive. That’s what it is all about.
Because I am a fellow Anonymous, I keep some clippings from those unknown writers such as us, and as I look eagerly to the treasures my next Morning Readings will bring, allow me to share three short ones from Anonymous that inspire any story-teller to try a little harder.
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I WANT TO BE A BEAR NEXT TIME
In this life, I’m a woman. In my next life, I’d like to come back as a bear. When you’re a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.
Before you hibernate, you’re supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that too.
When you’re a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you’re sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.
If you’re mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.
If you’re a bear, your mate expects (!) you to wake up growling. He expects (!) that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
Yup, gonna be a bear!
~ Author Unknown ~
* * *
‘YOUR SON IS HERE,’ SHE REPEATED
A nurse took the tired, anxious Marine to the bedside.
“Your son is here,” she said to the old man.
She had to repeat the words several times before the patient’s eyes opened.
Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man’s limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.
The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine … sat there in the poorly-lighted ward, holding the old man’s hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.
He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital – the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.
Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.
Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.
Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.
“Who was that man?” he asked. The nurse was startled,
“He was your father,” she answered.
“No, he wasn’t,” the Marine replied. “I never saw him before.”
“Then why didn’t you say something when I took you to him?”
“I knew there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son wasn’t here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.”
The next time someone needs you …
Be there. Stay.
~ Author Unknown ~
* * *
‘DOCTOR, I AM AFRAID TO DIE’
An elderly man went to visit his family doctor. As he was preparing to leave the patient said, “Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.”
Very quietly, the doctor said, “I don’t know.”
The man then quickly responded:
“You don’t know? You are a man of God and you do not know what is on the other side?”
The doctor was holding the handle of the door. On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room with an eager show of gladness. Turning to the patient, the doctor said,
“Did you notice my dog? He didn’t know what was inside this room. He knew nothing except that his master was here. When the door opened, he sprang in with gladness and without fear.”
“I know little of what is on the other side of death. But I do know one thing, I know my Master is there, and that is enough.”
~ Author Unknown ~
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Isn’t Anonymous a gem of a writer?
royexum@aol.com