The Package

He peeled back the tissue paper carefully and lifted the fragile object from the protective box. It had arrived in one piece, safe. He let it rest in the palm of his hand and gazed upon it in wonder. He had ordered it online and never really believed it would come yet here it was.

He had subscribed to the service after a recommendation from a friend who could see he was struggling, finding it hard to communicate. He had dithered for weeks, although he didn’t know he had been, he didn’t know the word. Finally he had taken the plunge and for the last few months, every Monday, the package would arrive despite his doubts.

He stared at the strange carving, the rounded shapes and the straight lines and the astonishing flow. He placed it upon his tongue, closed his mouth and let it dissolve. That strange sensation as it filled the empty cavern and finally emerged through his lips.

That was the magical moment, the first time he heard his own mouth say it. ‘Beautiful’. That was the word that had been sent, ‘Beautiful’. He loved it.

Over the weeks he had built up new language, new expressions but this was the one that would change his life. This was the one he had been waiting for.

He picked up the two cups of tea and climbed the stairs to the bedroom. He pushed open the door with his foot and looked at her sitting upright in their bed. She stared back at him.

‘You are …. Beautiful,’ he said

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

Language can be the food of love