SHE WAS TOO YOUNG TO KNOW ANY BETTER SHE CALLED HIM LITTLE FRIEND - Flash Fiction Story by Giulio Magrini

 

SHE WAS TOO YOUNG TO KNOW ANY BETTER

SHE CALLED HIM LITTLE FRIEND

Flash Fiction Story

by Giulio Magrini

Little Barbara didn’t know any better, but she didn’t know she knew everything. She would hold Little Friend and have conversations. He would want to know what she thought and she would tell him. They got along famously, this little stuffed elephant, and Barbara. The little stuffed toy looked like an ordinary plush animal to others, but Barbara called him Little Friend. They supposed that Barbara was attached to it because of the large floppy ears. She was thought to be a compassionate child. Barbara was careful to hold him tenderly, and stare at Little Friend’s face, because they were having a private conversation. When she addressed him, she embraced him gently and crumpled her eyes in his, as she knew he did when he spoke to her. They are the deepest of friends, and share their secrets together, but it is okay, as long as Barbara does her chores and behaves. There was no acting out when Barbara was young, so it was a good life for her and Little Friend. Sometimes others in the family would tell her to do something other than be with her partner. They observed that her time with Little Friend was too much. But Barbara knew better. She took Little Friend to solitary, alone places, and explained. They would have their talks, which did a lot of good for both of them. It taught them how to deal with the problems of those who could not understand kindness. Like many kids little Barbara at five years old had a doctorate in kindness. Her practice was the kitchen table, bed, and front porch. Little Friend and she would have their talks and clarify all of it. Theirs was a harmony in two parts. One was the voice of Barbara, and the other was the wonderful voice of Little Friend, the creation of this wondrous girl who became the woman Barbara, now my wife. She kept the kindness, and it has grown in her and is now shared with me. I look around and want to thank Little Friend for all he has done for us… I cannot find him, but he is here inside her heart, and now ours.

Giulio Magrini started writing poetry in the early 1970’s. He has performed at the Three Rivers Arts Festival, and many other venues in Pittsburgh. Giulio has conducted poetry workshops in alternative high schools, prisons, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, and hosted a radio show for local poets. The anthology of his poetry and flash fiction over the last fifty years, The Color of Dirt was published in September 2022 by Word Association Press. Copies are available through Amazon, but the author prefers interested parties for his book contact him directly through his email at giulio27@verizon.net As Giulio Magrini tells us, “We have put our hands in the dirt and sanctified each other.”