The Touching Story
Speech No. 4 in the Toastmasters "Storytelling"
Manual
Date presented: 26 May, 1998
The objectives of this speech were:
- To understand the techniques available to arouse
emotion.
- To become skilled in arousing emotions while
telling a story.
Time 6 to 8 minutes.
The Man of the House
How do you explain death to a three-year-old? It's so difficult for the
literal mind of a young child to understand such an abstract concept. My
eldest son, Joel had just turned three when I had to tell him his Daddy had
gone to live with God. He idolized his father so I expected him to be very
upset. But he took it in a very matter of fact manner.
"OK", he said, and went on playing with his toy cars. It was his favourite
game. Every evening he and his Dad had spread the tartan rug on the floor
and played cars until bedtime. Now Joel continued the game alone.
Visitors came to offer sympathy. Not many know what to say at such a time,
but I found comfort and strength in their love. I tried to make them feel at
ease while they stammered the usual cliches, "I understand what you are
going through," "It was God's will", "At least you still have your
children."
More than one turned to Joel and said, "You'll have to look after Mummy and
little Benjy." "You're the man of the house now."
The "man of the house" just shrugged and ran off to play cars with his
imaginary friend. He called her "The Little Darling". "The Little Darling"
drove a pipe truck and it was so long, that when she turned in at our back
gate, the end of it was still leaving Gympie.
When The Little Darling wasn't out driving her truck, she often caused
disruptions in our household.
Who slammed the door and woke the baby? The Little Darling. Who put the
cheese in the washing machine? The Little Darling. Who cut the cat's
Whiskers? You guessed it, The Little Darling.
She even played tricks on her best friend, Joel. One day when he was
about to sit up at the table for his dinner, Joel suddenly flopped on the
floor and thrashed furiously in all directions, then he bellowed, "The
Little Darling's taken my chair!"
Not long after Joel's father died, another imaginary person joined us. One
morning Joel asked, "Who came through the house last night?"
"No one," I told him.
"Yes, they did," he said, "An old man came through. He
was carrying a long pipe and The Little Darling was sitting on the end."
The old man made frequent appearances after that. Around midnight, Joel
would sit up in bed and call out, "Is anybody coming through?"
At first, it seemed funny, but gradually the old man assumed sinister
characteristics. Joel grew apprehensive at bedtime. He insisted on having
the light left on. When I tucked him in, he would say casually, "Do you have
some work to do in this room?"
"Yes," I'd say, " I'll just fold the washing while you go to sleep." And he
would lie quietly watching to make sure that I was still there.
Joel didn't mention his father. He just became more and more withdrawn and
was afraid to let me out of his sight, even in daylight. He hid when
visitors came, and at night he had nightmares about the old man. I didn't
know how to help him.
The answer came unexpectedly one day, when he was showing me his favourite
toy car.
"You might drive one like that when you grow up." I told him.
He stared at me incredulously.
"Oh, no." he said, "I'm going to die."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You're not going to die." I told
him.
"Yes," He said, " I'm my Daddy, now."
Suddenly I realized what had been troubling him. Well meaning friends had
told him he was the man of the house. What a burden to place on a
three-year-old! He thought he had actually taken his father's place, and
would suffer the same death!
Once Joel was reassured that he was still himself, the old man stopped
coming through our house. But the Little Darling stayed with him until he
started school.
Joel still loves cars. When he left school, he started work as an Auto
Electrician.
Then he found his real Little Darling. Joel and Frances were married a few
years ago and set up house together. Recently they became the proud parents
of a beautiful baby boy.
Now, at last, Joel truly is the Man of the House.
COMMENTS
Quite a few said they were touched by this story.
MAMALADE
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