On a Monday, after school, the girls met up and chilled outside on the front bench for a while. While they were enjoying the warm weather, Debra decided to ask about the cellphone she had out.
"So how do you work this thing?"
"Are you seriously asking that question?" asked Skye, putting her music sheets.
"The only phone I've used in my life is a telephone."
"You might've well gotten a telegram," commented Andrea.
"What's a telegram?" asked Lizzie.
"I don't know."
"Debbie, if you know how to use a computer, you can use a phone," Madeline regarded.
"Shouldn't I know how to use a computer in order to use an iPhone?" asked Debra.
"Possible," Madeline said in a French accent.
"I think a monkey would know how to use a phone before it had an idea of what it is," stated Skye.
"Guys, don't make fun of me," said Debra. "I never had a cellphone before. I've always been rejecting them. Now that I have one, it's very important."
"We're sorry, Debra," said Madeline. "So it's an old-fashioned phone?"
Debra held up her phone. "What the eyes see are what the eyes can do."
"That's what my grandmother says," Lizzie brought up. "Except it usually has to do something with monkeys."
Madeline got up and sat next to Debra. She received the phone and pressed away the buttons to instruct Debra on the simple things.
"This is how you call," Madeline directed. "This is how you text. You can call when there is an emergency but if there is no rush, you can text somebody. I will put in all of our numbers to go along with your family's numbers. If there is a significant emergency, you just dial 911 and hit 'Call'. That's it. And those are the most important factors of a phone since that is what a phone is meant to do: call."
"Wow, I think I got it," said Debra.
"Monkey see, monkey do," Skye remarked.
"That's what my grandmother says," Lizzie repeated.
"You said that already."
"Oh, yeah."
Madeline handed Debra back her phone. "Now you can call us or text us. Kids of our generation text now so..."
Debra pressed the buttons on her cellphone. "I think I'm getting the hang of this."
Instantly, a vibrating noise occurred. Madeline dug in her pants' side pocket and pulled out her pink cellphone. She turned it on to see a notification on the screen. She went through it and saw a text reading, 'Hello' from an unfamiliar number.
"That's from me."
"Well... hello to you, too."
"No, text it."
"Okay." Madeline opened the messaging section of her phone and started to text back a response to Debra's number. Once she hit 'Send', Debra's phone made a boing sound, making the response from Madeline pop up on her screen.
Debra read, "'Hello'." She chuckled. "I should send you all text messages."
"That's okay, Debbie," said Skye.
When Skye talked, Debra twiddled her thumbs on the phone's buttons. "Done!" she finished.
Cellphone noises occurred simultaneously. The rest of the girls checked their phones, all getting a response of, "Text is amazing!"
"It most certainly is," said Skye. "According to you."
Debra grinned, holding her phone against her chest. "This is a great experience. I can work a phone!"
"Yes, a sixteen-year-old learning how to work a phone is certainly magical," Andrea remarked. "Next year, we'll teach you the value of Christmas."
"I know this sounds stupid coming from me but I am open to new things. Taking in unfamiliar knowledge burns up my chi."
"Oh, I have an ointment at home that soothes burns and itchiness," said Lizzie.
"No, chi. Not 'itchy'. Just chi. It's the energy that flows inside every living thing. And things that make me excited adds new life to my chi."
"You want to be a flower when you grow up, don't you?" asked Andrea.
"Anything I would do for reincarnation."
"I wasn't serious."
"Oh, Madeline! People make symbols when they text, right?"
"Yes, they do so," responded Madeline.
"Can you teach me how to make a yoga pose in my messaging?"
"Girl, people don't make yoga poses... but it's not impossible. Give me your phone."
Debra gave her phone to Madeline. "Feeling the chi."
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