A Magazine of Many Arts

WC Roberts

Tyla's friend
is always the same, dressed in that gingham dress
trying to get her to dance those old dances
   Charleston
   Jitterbug
saying not to worry about what's happening
"over there" in Germany.  President Roosevelt
will see us through this depression
and keep us out of the war.
 
Tyla tells her friend this is all old stuff
but she won't listen
she'll only listen when Tyla takes up
her Grandmother's old thimble
   silver
   pitted
the interest clear on her friends face
when Tyla holds it.
 
Tyla hears her mother crying at night
   worry
   frustration
her stepdad, he
tries to sooth her, telling her
that kids have imaginary friends
her mom cries harder sometimes
saying, but not to the teens!
 
She hears it all but can't say a thing
no one understands her
no one cares
   depression
   aloneness
but her friend, she is different
she understands when Tyla feels the pain
when she feels the - empty
darkness inside
 
 2
 
Grandmother's old thimble, pitted
ALM engraved on the smooth base
Grandma's initials
   worn
   tired
It fits her thumb perfectly
helping Tyla find calm
remembering Grandma when she
still lived and listened
 
"Tyla!"  The friend is pushy when she shows up
but that's fine, not that she ever bothered
to look Tyla in the eye
   avoidance
   distraction
the thimble brightens like new at her presence
sparkling, like the light that
once gleamed from grandma's bi-color eyes
and that still sparkled in Tyla's memories
 
"I miss Grandma, girlfriend." Tyla says
depressed, saddened more than usual
--"maybe I should go to her."
   suicide
   depression
the friend was quiet, then she spoke
"don't talk like that, Ty-girl. It isn't that bad here."
The friend faced away, at the window
--"it can always be worse."
 
"Besides, I think your Grandma wouldn't like that."
Tyla couldn't look up.  "How would you know--
you aren't even real." she whispers
   sympathy
   concern
"you might be surprised" the friend's voice
the tone older, mature
familiar
sounds strangely like her mother
 
3
 
"I was born right after the big crash of '29
and I lived the Depression. I saw what the war
did to our men. It took my brother"
            sadness
            concern
"I lived through hate and hardship and
bad things in life and family," the friend's voice
changes, firms yet remains
sympathetic, familiar
 
"So you hold that thimble, Ty-girl, take
from it some peace. Its feel can be a comfort
if you let it.  It was for me"
            realization
            shock
Tyla snaps up to look into
brilliant young blue eyes in a craggy aged face
Grandma's eyes
filled with love and care
 
"It can always be worse, but hold my thimble close
I'll always be there with you."
 

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