TIE ;A BALL OF STRING STORYBy T. Lohmeyer

TIE ;A BALL OF STRING STORYBy T. Lohmeyer

TIE,MY NAME IS THAT IS TO SAY THAT IS WHAT I’M MAINLY USED FOR. I’M A BALL OF STRING. I CAN WRAP, PULL AND HOLD. I’M DEPENDED ON TO SPIN THINGS, REMIND AND GIVE. I’M USUALLY FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF MOST ANY JUNK DRAWER AND WILL NEVER GO BAD. I’M HUMBLE IN NATURE BUT GRAND IN DEEDS. I’M NOT SIMPLE, BUT AM SIMPLY USED. I TAKE SO MUCH PRIDE IN WHAT I AM TO OTHERS. HERE ARE JUST A FEW ...

DREAMS

BEST FRIEND’SI ONCE CROSSED A SPANS BETWEEN A BOY’S AND HIS ROOMS. I WAS STRETCHED TO MY LIMIT AND DEPENDENT UPON TO TIE THEIR THOUGHTS TOGETHER. THE TWO BOYS WOULD CHEAT SLEEP AND TALK UNTIL LATE HOURS OF THE NIGHT RELIVING ALL THEIR SUMMER FULFILLED THAT DAY AND PLANNING ALL THE DREAMS TO BE ACHIEVED TOMORROW. WITH ME SUMMER DAYS NEVER ENDED.

FLY

TIGHTLY.

AT TIMES I CAN ALMOST —ALMOST. I WAS USED TO BRING A CHILD JUST A LITTLE CLOSER TO HEAVEN. TO DRAW A LINE BETWEEN WHERE THEY WERE AND WHERE THEY WANTED TO BE. IN A WAY I KEPT DREAMS GROUNDED, BUT NEVER STIFLED. AS LONG AS THEY DIDN’T LET GO I WAS ABLE TO HOLD WHILE I WAS NEITHER THE DREAM NOR THE HAND, I WAS WHAT HELD THEM TOGETHER.

LOVE.

I WRAPPED AROUND ALL THAT WAS LOVED BY AN OLDER WOMAN ONCE. SHE LIVED BY HERSELF NOW, BUT WAS NEVER ALONE. SHE OCCASIONALLY WOULD GO THROUGH WHAT I HELD TOGETHER. SHE WOULD READ THROUGH EACH OLD LETTER WRITTEN TO HER FROM HER ONLY LOVE’S HAND. SHE RELIVED ALL HIS KISSES AND KIND AFFECTIONS, ALL HIS WORDY WAYS OF SHARING AND ALL HIS COMFORTABLE PAUSES. ALL HIS WRITTEN WORDS BROUGHT HER CLOSER TO ALL THEIR YESTERDAYS AND GAVE HER SO MUCH HOPE FOR WHAT WAS YET TO BE. I HELD ALL THAT WAS THEIR

CARE.

SAFE.

MY TYPICAL JOB IS TO TIE MYSELF AROUND WHAT IS SENT. ONE SUCH TIME I WAS PLACED AROUND A BOX THAT HELD BROWNIES MADE WITH SO MUCH LOVE AND THEY WEREN’T THE BEST, BUT TO THE YOUNG MAN THEY WERE SENT TO, THEY WOULD REPRESENT ALL THAT WAS HOME. ALL THAT WAS GOOD, RELIABLE AND WHAT I HELPED BRING, BROUGHT THE WARMTH OF HOME TO ALL THEY WERE SHARED WITH. I WAS SENT OFTEN, BUT NEVER TAKEN FOR GRANTED. WHAT I HAD WAS ALWAYS CHERISHED.

TIEDI ONCE WAS AROUND A BOYS FINGER FOR THREE DAYS STRAIGHT. HE ME SO TIGHTLY AROUND HIS FINGER TO REMIND HIM OF SOMETHING THAT WAS SO VERY IMPORTANT TO HIM. SOMETHING THAT HE KNEW HE MIGHT FORGET, BUT WITH ALL HIS HEART DIDN’T WANT TO THIS TIME. IT WAS SO CLEAR IN HIS HEAD WHEN HE TIED ME ON HIS FINGER THE FIRST DAY, BUT BY THE THIRD HE NEEDED ME TO REMIND HIM OF THE DAY HE FORGOT LAST YEAR, BUT NOT THIS YEAR. WE WERE SO HAPPY WHEN TOGETHER WE REMEMBERED HIS LITTLE SISTER’S BIRTHDAY.

TIED

SOMETIMES

PATIENCE

I DON’T LIKE IT, BUT I’M NOT ALL THAT EASY TO HANDLE. I CAN BECOME VERY TAN-GLED AND COMPLICATED AND, I SUPPOSE, BE VERY DIFFICULT AT TIMES. I DON’T MEAN TO BE, BUT I’M JUST LIKE ANY OF US AND REQUIRE AND LONG FOR A CARING AND GENTLE HAND. WITH TIME AND HELP I CAN BE USEFUL AND HELPFUL AGAIN. I KNOW THAT WHAT WE ARE TOGETHER IS SO MUCH BIGGER THAN WHAT WE ARE APART.

FOUND

STRONG

ONE TIME, I WAS LOCKED AWAY ONLY TO BE

YEARS LATER REMINDING ONE OF THEIR BLISSFUL YOUTH. I DIDN’T THINK I COULD DO IT, BUT I WAS ABLE TO BE USED ONCE AGAIN, GIVING ONE MORE MEMORY OF AN INNOCENT YESTERDAY. A SMILE WAS WHAT I GOT. A SMILE WAS ALL I WANTED. I WAS PROUD OF HOW I STAYED

THROUGHOUT ALL THOSE PACKED AWAY YEARS.

I

II’M A BALL OF STRING.

CONTINUE TO TRY AND HELP WHERE I CAN. I’M SOMETIMES MYSTERIOUSLY LOST, YET FASCINATINGLY ALWAYS CLOSE. LIKE FRIENDSHIP, I TRY TO BE THERE WHEN LEAST EXPECTED AND NEVER FAR WHEN MOSTLY NEEDED. I DON’T WANT TO BE LOOKED UP TO NOR LOOKED DOWN AT. I DON’T WISH TO BE GIVEN TO NOR WOULD I EVER DREAM OF TAKING FROM—I’M MY VERY BEST WHEN SHARED WITH. I’M MANY THINGS TO MANY PEOPLE, BUT TO US, I’M A FRIEND.