A Little TV

A Little TV

CHILDREN'S STORIES

Doris Maza was a happy little girl. She lived in a small estate that had ten tall blocks of flats. Two hundred families lived in those flats. Each block of flats had many different houses and many staircases. Almost every house had a TV.

 

When Doris was young, she hardly spent much time watching TV. Her family had a little TV, but there was always work to do, books to read, and games to play and toys to make so the family used to watch TV just a little.

 

All the other young children in the estate loved to play. Some, much more than others. In the estate where they lived, there were naughty boys and naughty girls who spoiled other peoples things. They were usually older boys and girls and she always stayed as far away from them as she could. Getting caught with badly behaved children meant trouble from Mummy.

 

Doris went to school not far away. She could get there by crossing a road where cars passed at high speed. She was not afraid of the cars, but she was afraid of getting hit by them so she always made sure she used the bridge across the road. Some children did not use the bridge and ran across the road. The bridge was built because a long time ago a boy had died when hit by a car on the road. Even though it was tiring to climb up and down those steps she was always careful to do it every day.

 

At school Doris was not the class prefect, but all the girls and boys liked her. She was very helpful to other boys and girls. The teacher said she was bright. She could solve problems quickly, read very well and could run very fast in the field. When teacher asked her why she was always alert and full of questions, she told teacher that she read books at home and slept at 8.00 o'clock. "O that is good" said teacher, "but don't you watch TV?". "Well we have a little TV", she said sadly, "My Dad doesn't like me watching TV very much". "Don't worry" said the Teacher, "if you keep getting good grades like this you won't need to watch any TV at all".

 

Doris felt bad about what teacher said because her friends in the estate sometimes teased her about their little TV and now even teacher knew about it. When she was younger, it never bothered her, but now she was 10 years old, and almost grown up.

 

When her father came home that evening, he could see she was upset. He asked her if there was anything bothering her. She told him about their little TV. Her father was very concerned and listened very carefully as Doris complaints. She wanted a bigger TV to watch all the movies, all the replays and keep up with all the news like her friends said.

 

When she was done, her father said the most amazing thing. He said Doris, I understand how important this is to you. So I want you to look for the most precious TV that will change your mind completely and we will buy it for you. Doris mother was so shocked when she heard those words that the plates she was carrying slipped out of her hands and crashed onto the floor. Mr. Maza! She said "don't you love your daughter! How can you give her permission to do such a thing? What Doris did not see was her dad winking at her mother.

 

"How long do I have to find this TV" asked Doris. "Well" said Dad "I am going on safari tomorrow and I won't be back for a two weeks, lets us see if you find it by the time I get back". "Please mummy can I look for a precious TV?" "Yes" said mum sadly. "If your daddy says so". "Daddy please say so". "So" said daddy. Doris was so excited she rushed outside to tell her friends the news.

 

Now finding the most precious TV in the world in a whole estate is a big challenge for a girl of ten. But then she thought, if there was a precious TV, there must be one like it in the estate. The best way to find it was to look for it. And look she did. She went to her neighbors houses and watched their TVs. She went to her friends houses and watched theirs too. She even went to other peoples houses and looked at their TVs as well. She went up stairs to the top floor and was on the watch for TVs there. She even watched the TVs that made a lot of noise in the bar at the shopping centre. She watched and watched and watched all the TVs she could.

 

There were big TVs and small TVs, yellow TVs and green TVs. big, bigger and biggest TVs, but the big ones were not more precious than the small ones and the small ones not more precious than the big ones. As she watched more and more TVs she realized they all showed the same programs. None seemed to be any better than any other.

 

Each day she became more and more weary as she searched for the biggest and most precious TV. She began dreaming of TVs and TV programs. She dreamed of the things she had seen on other peoples TVs. Sometimes she would wake up at night screaming. But she was determined to find the biggest TV. She no longer played with her friends, because she was hunting for the biggest and most precious TV. The neighbors complained that she stayed up in their homes till late at night. She stopped reading and doing her home work so that she could find a precious TV before her dad returned home.

 

Her friends at school thought that she was acting strange when she was no longer able to help them with their class work. Her teacher sent a note to her parents saying that she was concerned that Doris was no longer creative or imaginative in her work. She was concerned that something was bothering her, because she no longer paid attention in class and was constantly daydreaming. To make matters worse she had stopped attending running practice. Her mother thought Doris looked ill and took her to the doctor who said that all she needed was a good night's sleep.

 

A few days later, her father came home from safari and gave her mother a big hug. When he looked at Doris, he knew something was wrong. He sat down beside her as she hung her head and stared at the floor. "So what the matter" he asked gently "don't you like your books anymore?"  "No" she said. "Are you sick?" "No". "Are you hungry?" "No". "Are you sad?" "Yes" She said and started sobbing. I never found the biggest most precious TV in the world. "Really?" said her Dad. "Yes" said Doris "and now my friends don't like me, and won't play with me anymore. The neighbors keep telling Mum stories about me. Mum says I'm no longer helpful. My teacher said I need to stay awake in class and that I don't run as fast as I used. I don't sleep very well at night and I can't stop thinking about TVs and TV programs. I watched a lot of TV's but never found the most precious one. Then Doris got very quiet for a few minutes and said...

 

"Dad" I've changed my mind. If I can't be helpful, if my friends won't play with me and neighbors don't like me and teacher can't teach me I don't want the most precious TV in the world, Lets just keep what we have.

 

Dad reached out and gave his daughter a huge bear hug with a big smile on his face. When he set her down, he said, "you are wrong, you have found the biggest most precious TV in the world". "What do you mean?" said Doris. Your mind, said Dad is the biggest most precious TV in the world. It not only helps you see everything clearly, it helps you learn things, do things, make thing and make friends. It is much more precious than all the little or big TVs you can imagine. Your mother and I don't mind you watching a little TV, but we always want you to watch your mind so you will always be able to see things clearly.

 

Allan

2007