Story of a Phone

This is a story of a phone and here's how the story goes: 

Sarah has a phone (well, we all do) and somehow, this phone - a white iPhone, a white iPhone 5c to be exact, became the centre of attention one fateful day. 

One fateful day. One. Fateful. Day.

One fateful day after graduation assembly, seven friends fresh from graduation, headed to a casual yet slightly - just slightly - cool fast food place pretty near their school campus. 

They ordered a variety of food. 

Not that there was much variety on the menu anyway. 

Two of them shared a Nutella milkshake, which soon became a drink shared amongst all seven of them. 

Of course, none of them were saliva-conscious. 

"Can I try some?"

"Sure go ahead"

It tasted oddly meaty. 

There were fries too, of course. 

Come on, what's fast food without fries? 

Seasoned heavily, satisfaction guaranteed. 

And chicken!

Not forgetting chicken - the all time favourite food of these seven friends. 

It was a rather hearty meal, not of the food (well, maybe that too). 

But more of the conversations shared across the table. 

Laughter was an integral part of mealtimes with these seven people and laughter was delivered. 

However, perhaps because of the timing of the little outing (note: immediately after graduation), the conversations were filled with laments. 

Laments of time. 

"Time is passing way too fast."

"I honestly can't believe we graduated!"

And affirmation (or rather, agreement). 

"Oh my god, I know right?"

A continuation of photo-taking was done. 

It seemed as if they thought it was the end, that they wouldn't see each other again. 

No. 

They would still keep in touch, of course. 

Well, they promised. 

No harm using up the memory space of camera rolls anyway. 

Afterall, one could easily erase the memories made. 

And replace them with something else. 

Would they? 

Oh yes, the story of a phone. 

This is the story of a phone and here's where it comes in. 

It was in the middle of casual browsing through high street fashion.

Then, it seemed as if there was this sudden pause, a sudden standstill to everything happening so quickly around this group of friends when one of them made a horrifying realization. 

"Where's my phone?"

Calls were made immediately to the lost phone. 

It rang. 

And rang. 

On and on. 

Ringing meant that there was hope. 

Or did it?

It would, definitely be much better than hearing the ringing cut off completely, making way for a dark, empty silence.

Because that would mean a disconnection. 

No way of tracking, no way of finding. 

No more hope. 

Basically. 

Trips were made to information counters. 

Information counters claim to have "information".

But what if it's not the information that is needed? 

Turned down one by one, left with the only option of leaving another handphone number to contact if somehow, someone returned the phone to the information counter. 

Worry. 

"Guys, do y'all know how much an iPhone costs?"

Worry. 

After more than sixty desperate attempts to call the number (which kept ringing and ringing),

"Hello?"

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

OH MY GOSH GUYS THE PERSON PICKED UP!!!!!!!!! 

Not even caring if the person who "picked up" could hear her. 

Elation. 

Relief. 

Happiness. 

It called for a celebration. 

Celebration with popcorn. 

Turns out that after paying for her stuff (which included a duckie hand puppet) and walking away with the iconic bright yellow bags the store was recognizable for, the phone was left behind. 

So the phone went for a little adventure, no biggie. 

A little adventure in the kind hands of a good stranger who happened to see the it left on the counter top.

This kind stranger had a heart of gold, and well, she was living her golden years too, probably. 

She was unable to 

"Slide to answer"

And was going to wait for her husband to return home to help her. 

By accident, she managed to answer the call and it seemed as if the desperate "HELLO" on the other end of the line was worth the trouble. 

Initial plans were scrapped and a new adventure was made. 

An adventure to retrieve this phone in the corners of Holland V. 

A note of thanks was carefully written on the journey there, filled with so much gratitude. 

Gratitude. 

Not forgetting hope, faith and probably a new-found perspective on humanity. 

It seemed as if the previous possibility of some stranger stealing the phone was dumb. 

As dumb as it sounds now, it was definitely a legitimate concern. 

Was it wrong to have only thought of the worst to come? 

Where did optimism go? 

And so amongst all the thoughts running through their little minds, a duck appeared. 

And ducks somehow make everything better. 

Afterall, a bit of pretence allows for childlike wonders to shine and sparkle. 

It moved. 

Under the control of a hand. 

There was a bit of walking.

Walking in a fairly nice neighbourhood, without much worry. 

At least, the phone was in safe hands and they trusted that. 

The only thing left to do was to find the home of the lovely stranger. 

20 Holland Drive was found, soon enough. 

And so was the phone. 

That's the story of a phone. 

Or perhaps, it's now known to you as the phone. 

The phone that made these friends worry, wish, walk 

And wonder how people in this world can actually be so delightful. 

An unexpected adventure led to more unforeseen discoveries. 

Curiosity makes one wander and find new things.

Well, this was Churrosity. 

Churros. 

Warm and coated with cinnamon and granulated sugar. 

Absolutely delicious. 

And so, the story ended with ice cream at a nearby ice cream parlour. 

I would say, it's was quite a good (and sweet) ending.