Junkyard

7/6/2021

Unsure of what to make of this, the young woman cleared her throat. "Umm uhh...yes?"

"And do I have a name, miss...?"

"Uhh Guan'er... no, Gwendolyn, but you can call me Gwen." She replied softly. It was awkward conversing to a hollow tube. She didn't know who the person on the other side was, but the voice was speaking in English, so she decided against using her birth name.

But the voice seemed to insist on using it. "Ohh Guan'er, lovely name! Well, this machine you're currently holding is a telephone and it allows us to talk to each other even across vast distances. No land, sea or sky is the limit! Whenever you wish to connect to my side, just press the phone button in the middle of the box, that is the big circle you might have pressed a minute ago. To exit the conversation, place the golden part over the bracket on the top of the box. I won't be able to hear you until you next press the phone button. Got everything?"

"Yes." It was like she guessed. What a strange blessing to have found such an incredible machine. In a ditch, of all places! "Do you know who this machine belongs to?" She had to ask even though she really really wanted it for herself.

"Belong?" The voice returned incredulously. "No no, a telephone does not belong to anyone, Guan'er. It's like a err... a meeting place, only appearing when two people want to talk to each other."

"A meeting place?" What strange description. She might have heard wrong, afterall there was again that strange lilt around the voice's words.

"Ahh maybe there is no perfect word to describe what I mean. Your language must be severely limited. What language are you speaking may I ask?" The voice asked.

That perplexed Guan'er: "Ehhh, aren't we speaking English?"

"English? I've never heard of that language. If it sounds like I'm speaking this English to you, that means I'm the only one using a translator." The voice seemed surprised although she didn't truly understand by what the last word meant. Trans-lay-ter? The voice drew her attention to the telephone again. "I know it's rude to ask, but just where are you, Guan'er? I'm in Pocks Town, south side, come find me anytime!"

Guan'er wasn't sure how it was rude to ask about her location. "I'm in Sydney Town, New South Wales. I'm not sure where Pocks Town is...What's the name of your country, or state?"

"Country? State? I don't know what you mean, but it's at the south side. If you're north, just cross the bridge and there's a big directory that shows where all the towns are." The voice said exuberantly.

Just cross a bridge to get from north to south? Where is that kind of place? When her parents came to Australia, they had to take sail across the sea for a month, bypassing several countries that all spoke different languages. Her parents had always reminded her what a privilege it was to be able to live here since the journey was so arduous.

"So what did you mean earlier when you said you're from the...Help Organisation?" Guan'er redirected the conversation. "Do you provide any services?"

The voice didn't reply for awhile. "Ahhh uhhh um promise not to be mad, but I'm not actually from the organisation. My sister is an employee though and she uses the phone a lot. She always sounds super cool!" The level of admiration in the voice shone clearly through to Guan'er. "So...when I found this telephone, I was trying to mimic her. I swear I mean no harm though; I will try to help you as much as possible! Although I'm not sure where you are Guan'er, so I'm so sorry but I can't provide any material services."

Guan'er, however, was not at all upset by any of what the voice said. If anything, she was excited that she could keep this machine and this voice. "We can always talk on the telephone!" She proposed. "Call me tomorrow, Yu-ne, at this time? This has been the most interesting conversation I've had for a long time."