Touched by Something

Daddy said the wind had knocked the antenna off, and he offered to pay one of us ten whole cents to go turn it back around.

Well that ten cents meant as much to me back then as a million dollars would today. I could just taste that smooth chocolate bar in my mouth and the ice cold RC Cola, with peanuts floating around in it, to wash it down!

"I'll do it, Daddy!" I remember shouting out as he reached down into his pocket and pulled out that small shiny coin. He put the dime in my hand and told me that they would all yell out really loud when the picture was right.

So I took off out the door, and up the hill.

I remember thinking on the way up the hill about the dime in my hand. I didn' t have a pocket on my dress to put it in, and I was so afraid that I'd drop it in that creepy old shack when I tried to turn the antenna. I didn't have a light with me either, and would probably never be able to find it. So, I decided that when I started to climb the ladder I'd put the dime in my mouth, just until I got back down.

Mommy always told me that money didn't belong in my mouth - after all, it was the dirtiest thing that ever was. So, I stopped for a second to clean it off real good with the hem of my dress. The little coin shined in the moonlight and glistened like the frost on the ground. It looked clean enough to me, so I went on.

When I finally got to the top of the hill, I looked back down towards our little house to see how far I'd come, and I wondered if I would really be able to hear them yell from that far...especially since I was going to be inside the shack, and up in the loft...but then I remembered just who and all I'd left back there and laughed a little when I thought of just how many other people in the country side were also going to hear - the grand news - that our reception had come back when I turned that antenna!

It wasn't until I got right up close to the little shack that the pit of my stomach just seemed to ball up inside of my body. I had seen the place many times, but never until this moment had I seen it like I did that night.

The clear moonlit night accentuated the emptiness in that little hull of a home. The wind blew through it, almost whispering my name, as if it were. I had never felt so completely alone.

As I stepped up on the porch, I slipped my shiny new dime into my mouth with my now shaky, sweaty palms - and I happened to think for a second - that's what makes money so dirty I bet...

I looked back towards my house at the bottom of the hill, and I could see our little light down there shining from the kitchen window. I had to hurry up and get this over with - Daddy is waiting for me - and they are all anxious to get back to their show.

So, I took one great big deep breath, and headed for the door.

Once inside, everything seemed to stop. The wind stopped, the sound stopped, everything around me just stood still. My heart was beating so fast, and a lump had formed in my throat so large and hard that I could not swallow.

I took one step farther.

The floor squeaked beneath my feet with a sound that broke the silence so abruptly I nearly lost control of my own functions.