A CALL OF THE INNOCENCE

 

A call of the innocence

That was what it was

When the fifteen year old me

Picked up the phone

To call Theresa Flaherty

My palms were so sweaty

I could barely hold the phone

Whereas my mouth was so dry

I doubted I could speak

But I dialled the number

And I eventually got it right

On the third attempt

And then it seemed

To ring for an eternity

But then it was answered

“Hello” the sweet voice said

“Theresa?” I croaked

“Yes” she replied sweetly

“It’s Paul” I said “from school”

I don’t know why I added the last bit

“Oh hi Paul” she said

And I tried to gauge if it was

A despairing “oh hi Paul”

Or a pleasantly surprised one

But as I had never asked

A girl out before

I had no benchmark for it

So a few minutes passed

Of nervous small talk

Interspersed with awkward silences

As the heart in my chest pounded
And beat like an eagles wing

While my head throbbed

And my stomach

Was a flutter of butterflies

As I approached the reason for my call

And the question I had for her

Which I had been rehearsing all week

But it vanished from my mind

So in the end I rather abruptly blurted out

“Will you go to the pictures with me?”

“Oh” she exclaimed with surprise

And added “Yes I’d love to”

My heart was doing cartwheels of delight

But I had to try to remain calm

“That’s great” I responded and hung up

And so ended a call of innocence,

And then I cursed myself for being an idiot

So I rang Theresa again five minutes later

To discuss the date, place and time

And so began our first passion