Talk Talk
UPLIFTING SHORT STORY WRITTEN BY MARIE PENMAN
Realising that her life was becoming uncharacteristically quiet, Cathy resolved to step out and speak up…
Cathy was just settling down for an evening in front of the telly with a mug of tea and a couple of biscuits when she suddenly realised that she hadn’t said a word all day. Literally.
“Wow, that’s weird,” she said aloud, and immediately felt strange hearing her own voice.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t been in communication with anyone – between the family WhatsApp group chat, emails about work, Facebook comments and texts from friends, her phone never stopped buzzing! – but she hadn’t actually spoken to anyone. All day long.
Working from home as she did, Cathy often got caught up in a project and just ploughed through it from morning until night, leaving little time for anything else.
However this routine usually involved speaking to her manager by phone, or popping out to the local shop to buy milk, or even just saying hello to her neighbour over the garden wall.
Except not today. Today had been totally, completely silent.
“How often does that happen, I wonder?” Cathy said aloud again, enjoying the novelty of hearing herself speak.
She decided she needed to make more effort, otherwise she’d turn into some sort of hermit, and at the age of fifty-seven, she wasn’t ready to abdicate from society.
She took a sip of her tea and bit into her biscuit – a chocolate digestive, just what she needed – and resolved to make tomorrow a much more talkative day. Surely it couldn’t be that difficult to find people to chat to?
Now that Cathy lived alone – the children had grown up and moved out, and she’d divorced her husband a decade ago – she should probably be doing more socially. She hated the thought of becoming one of those invisible women, who get older and just fade into the background, ignored by passers-by and barely noticed in public…
With this in mind, she decided tomorrow would be the start of her new, and much chattier life.
It wouldn’t be as easy as she’d first assumed. Sure, she could have phoned her daughter for a quick catch-up, or knocked on her neighbour’s door to borrow a few teabags, but that felt like cheating. The new, sociable Cathy needed to talk to different people, to go outside her comfort zone… and to possibly even make new friends!
Before she had the chance to hesitate, Cathy got herself dressed and ready, put on a bit of make-up – if she was going out in public, she felt she should make an effort – then grabbed her handbag and keys and set off.
First stop was the library, where she had books to return. She handed them to the woman behind the counter, and pointed to the novel on top of the pile.
“That was a great book! First one I’ve read by that author but I’ll definitely look for more by her,” Cathy said, smiling in what she hoped was a friendly and not creepy way at the member of staff.
“Ooh, I love to get a personal recommendation!” the woman replied. “And actually, I think there are two more books by this author on our shelves.” She smiled back at Cathy. “Let me show you.”
And just like that, the two women wandered over to the far corner of the library, chatting and discussing books they’d read and enjoyed. Cathy selected two more novels to read, then had them stamped by her new library friend, who said a cheerful goodbye and added that she hoped to see Cathy again soon.
Result!
Cathy headed along the High Street next, and wandered into a charity shop to take a closer look at a bright green jacket that was on display in the window. She loved the colour green but for some reason, it was hard to find women’s clothes in this particular shade – far too much pink and grey in shops these days.
Stretching up to see the tag on the jacket, Cathy was pleased to find that the jacket was in her size, and even better, was priced at just five pounds.
She asked the assistant if she could try it on (more talking out loud!) and was delighted when she looked in the mirror and saw it was a perfect fit.
As she came out of the changing room, there was an older woman standing in front of a mirror, holding up a soft purple jumper and frowning at her reflection.
Without stopping to think, Cathy leaned over towards her.
“That colour looks really lovely on you,” she commented. “You should definitely take it!”
The woman’s face broke into a smile as she turned to Cathy.
“Do you think so? I mean, it’s only three pounds, but then, do I really need another jumper?” She shrugged and looked a bit sheepish. “It’s not as though I ever go anywhere…”
Cathy looked at this sweet old woman and imagined being this age herself. Would she just stop buying clothes, assuming there was nowhere to wear them? Would she lose confidence in herself and her appearance?
Defiantly, she held up the green jacket she’d just tried on.
Who says you need somewhere special to go? I’m buying this jacket and if I only wear it to take the bins out, well, it’ll still make me happy! And I think that jumper would do the same for you.
The woman laughed.
“Well, when you put it like that… And it is for charity, after all!”
And so both women went up to the counter to pay for their purchases, and left the store together, giving each other a cheery wave as they headed off in opposite directions.
Cathy felt inordinately pleased, not just with her jacket, but with her second successful chat of the day. She was getting good at this!
In the supermarket, she told the young lad on the checkout that he had a very friendly and efficient manner and he blushed and gave her a big grin in return. Then she collected a coat from the dry cleaner’s and complimented the woman working there on her colourful nails.
“Oh, do you like them?” she replied. “I did them myself – followed a tutorial on YouTube!” And they both laughed.
By the time Cathy sat down in a nearby coffee shop, with a creamy latte and a slice of lemon drizzle cake, she’d chatted to so many people, she felt as if she’d been at a party!
She was halfway through her piece of cake – so delicious, with just the right amount of lemon zest – when the woman sitting at the adjacent table leaned across and touched her elbow.
“Excuse me,” she said, and Cathy looked up, thinking that someone else was playing the same game as her, engaging random strangers in conversation. She smiled at the woman in a friendly and encouraging manner.
This might sound a bit odd, but are you Cathy Simpson? You probably have a different surname these days, but I knew you back in primary school…
Cathy looked more closely at the woman and suddenly found she was able to picture her as a child.
“Are you Donna Cook?” she asked her hesitatingly.
The woman smiled. “It’s Donna Anderson now, but yes, that’s me!”
Cathy was surprised and delighted to see someone she’d once called a friend and immediately invited Donna to join her at her table.
Then the two women ordered more drinks – and more cake – and spoke non-stop for the next half hour, discussing families, careers and life in general.
Donna had moved away just as they’d finished primary school when her dad got a new job, and so the two girls had lost touch as children. This made it all the more lovely to catch up now – but so strange to be having a conversation as middle-aged women, rather than as giggling schoolgirls.
Donna explained that she was back in town visiting her cousin, and confessed she’d often thought of looking Cathy up over the years.
“Although I didn’t appreciate it at the time, Cathy, you were a real inspiration to me at school.”
Cathy almost choked on her coffee as she spluttered with laughter.
“Me? An inspiration? What on earth do you mean?”
Donna smiled. “You were such a friendly, cheerful little girl – you spoke to anyone and everyone. Remember what Miss Walsh, our class teacher used to call you? Chatty Cathy!”
Cathy laughed again, as happy memories of those dim and distant days came floating back to her.
“Oh my goodness, so she did! Do you know, I’d forgotten all about that. Did I really talk that much?”
“I think it was maybe just because the other kids in the class were all quite shy and timid,” Donna said. “Especially me! You just seemed so outgoing and confident compared to the rest of us.”
And then she explained how ‘Chatty Cathy’ had helped her throughout her life, beginning just weeks after she’d left her old school and moved to a new town, leaving all her old friends behind.
“I knew I’d have to make more of an effort at my new school, instead of relying on you to do all the talking,” Donna said. “So I basically reinvented myself as another Chatty Cathy, and just put on a confident front at school, even though inside I was terrified!”
Cathy patted Donna’s hand, feeling such sympathy for the quiet little girl Donna had been, and knowing how hard it would have been for her to leave her old school behind.
However things had worked out fine for Donna, who after leaving school had pursued a successful career in nursing and was married with three children and two grandchildren.
As she sipped her tea, she told Cathy that when her children had been small, and were worried about going to school or making new friends, Donna told them the story of Chatty Cathy, who had always known what to say and who as a result, was the most popular girl in class.
“I was probably more annoying than popular!” Cathy said. “I must have driven the teachers mad!”
Donna shook her head. “Not at all! In fact, when my little granddaughter started nursery last year and was worried she wouldn’t have anyone to play with, I told her about Chatty Cathy, too!”
And as the two women laughed together and reminisced some more, Cathy knew that although her life had become more quiet over the past few months, there was never any danger of her fading into the background.
She might have the occasional quiet day on her own, and she might worry about the fact that she hadn’t spoken to anyone else in a while – but inside, she was still the same Chatty Cathy and resolved that she always would be.
More uplifting short stories:
Read The Sunflower Sisters, Breakfast With Timothy, Behind Closed Doors, Sweet Delights, and The Midnight Bakery, plus many more in our archives.
Allison Hay
I joined the "My Weekly" team thirteen years ago and, more recently, "The People's Friend". I love the variety of topics we cover both online and in the magazines. I manage the digital content for the brands, sharing features and information on the website, social media and in our digital newsletters.
