Not Such Bad News

I read talking news. Free cassettes for blind people. Well, for my gran mostly. She's blind. I got into it because I had the hots for the girl volunteer who delivered our local talking newspaper to my gran. She was cute.

Soon after I started she met a geeky korean guy and started wearing headbands. I told her about some of my collections but she didn't seem interested. She's left now. So, now, I read the news.

My gran gets upset sometimes. On her own and blind, she says she doesn't know what the world's coming to. I know what she means. Sometimes I change the stories, just a bit, if I think she might get upset. I don't think any of the listeners will mind.

I do it on a Thursday night. There isn't much time. I read the paper and try and find the best stories. Sometimes it's hard. Last week a baby had been abandoned in a telephone box. I can't think why, because nobody uses these now we have mobile phones. It could have been overlooked for days.

It was a sad story really. I changed the ending a bit so that the baby was collected by a rich concert pianist and his lovely wife and taken to live in their large country house. He was going to have a miniature grand piano made for it and a baby black tuxedo. It would make gran smile, and the other blind people too.