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A Fleeting Shadow.
A Fleeting Shadow.
Do you have problems with your computer? When I start my computer all is well until I use the Windows Word Program. A fleeting shadow crosses my screen and it is nearly impossible to write. My fingers seem to work of their own accord. I hit two keys instead of one sometimes three. Sentences get jumbled; I have to correct stupid mistakes such as miss-spelt words. Sometimes I type a letter and it does not appear on the screen, how am I to write fairy tales with all of this happening to me? Now the fleeting shadow has got into my email and when I write in answer to an email that I have received, the spelling mistakes and the repeated letters sometimes drive me into despair. I have had the computer mechanic here to look into the computer and apart from a little dust all is well. The chip or CPU is working well. There are no problems with the memory banks; my keyboard is new so there should be no problems from this side. I do not drink alcohol while I am working on the computer and I have asked a friend to come and see me, his name is Shamus, you might remember Shamus from some of my other little tales. Shamus can get right into the computer and use it to travel by the electric current from one computer to another. He can also do the same with television sets. Shamus I know will get into my computer and see what it all means. The fleeting shadow I am sure will go away when Shamus gets on to him.
Shamus arrived this evening and I am very pleased to see him. “What seems to be the problem?” he asked me. I was expecting Shamus and had made a strong cup of sweet tea and gave him a plate filled with his favourite biscuits, Ginger Snaps. “ Drink your tea and eat your biscuits and I will tell you what is wrong while you eat and drink,” I said. Shamus ate the biscuits and drunk his tea and I explained the strange goings on with my computer and the fleeting shadow that went across my screen. I also told him about my writing problems and about the email mistakes and the writing errors when I tried to write my fairy-tales. Shamus had now finished his tea and the biscuits and asked me switch on my computer and the screen. Just to make sure I also switched on the printer.
Shamus took his shillelagh that is a form of cudgel used for defending oneself and just vanished into the screen. Then I saw the fleeting shadow it hushed along the screen with to my surprise, Shamus chasing it. I watched for a while and then left Shamus to the computer, the screen, and the printer, while I went upstairs to my bed. I knew that Shamus did not need my help; he was quite capable with his shillelagh to deal with the fleeting shadow. The following morning I awoke in my big double bed and looked lazily at the alarm clock, I had another minute for it to off with its mechanical noisy tinny ringing. Stretching my hand I hit the little knob on top of the alarm clock and got up. Washing, shaving and dressing took me a little longer this morning, I do not know why but I had something on my mind and did not know what it was. Going downstairs I went into my computer room and wondered for a minute why I had left the computer and the screen switched on. Then I noticed that the printer was also switched on. I remembered Shamus and it all came back to me. Shamus is still in the computer and had knowing Shamus many difficulties to face. I quickly brewed up a pot of tea, made a full English breakfast of sausages and eggs, bacon, fried bread, and wondered whether Shamus could smell the cooked breakfast while he was in the computer. Then it happened Shamus swinging his shillelagh stepped out of the screen and said he will bother you no more. My shillelagh and I gave him the fright of his life and the last I saw of him he was running quickly down the electricity wires into the main grid. Where he is now I do not know but he will bother you no more. Shamus and I sat down to a hearty breakfast and enjoyed our sweet tea. After eating our breakfast I told shamus that I would like to send off a few emails to see whether it really had been the fleeting shadow or was it my typing that was to blame. What do you know I still make the same mistakes, the hitting of two or sometimes three keys are due to my shaky old hands, it is a mixture of old age and Parkinson’s disease, that make the mistakes, the fleeting shadow had nothing whatever to do with my problems. I am glad that the shadow has gone it was a very ghostly thing to have wandering over my computer screen. Bern, your storyteller.
