The little green pen had not slept most of the night because he was too excited. Yesterday the top row of pens had been taken from the box and he could finally see the underside of the shelf above him. The small amount of light that filtered through the space between the doors was enough for the little green pen to see things around him in the box. He had been in the box long enough to know that when he could see the underside of the shelf above him it meant that he would soon be taken to the outside world!
It is hard for pens to wiggle (imagine being a pen and try it sometime!) but the little green pen managed to get himself out of his place in an effort to see if he could see anything else in the dark. Of course he couldn’t, and in the process he managed to wake the pen next to him which said, “Move! Squirt!” Embarrassed, the little green pen got back into his place but now found himself face down! Phooey! He managed to get turned over and occupied himself trying to imagine what it would be like in the outside world. While he was doing this he heard voices in the hall. The little green pen recognized the voices of the office staff!
He had been in the box long enough to understand human talk, and, when the supply closet doors were open, he could see through the torn part of the box, just enough, to see into the office and hear the humans talking.
As he understood from the pens on the desk, (when he could get them to talk at all), he would learn more when a human started writing with him. He hoped today would be the day! Suddenly there was the sound of a key in the office door and the lights came on and the voices of the office staff could be heard more clearly. He looked around. He was the only one awake.
He just, simply, did not understand his own kind! They didn’t seem to understand that today was THE DAY! Today that annoying lady that took the pens into the outside world would come and pick up his lot and off they would go to find their humans. He must have been wiggling again because he heard his box mate snort again and say: “stupid squirt!” The little green pen would not miss him, or... any of his box mates really. They didn’t seem to care about the future in the outside world. However, to be fair, and little green pen liked to think he was very fair; every day the pens could hear what was said about their kind when a pen was thrown into the trash. What was said... well, it was not nice! So, if most of the pens did not look forward to the real world... maybe there was a reason! But, even so, little green pen hoped his human would like him and he promised himself he would always write his best so his human would like him.
The day wore on. The little green pen dozed in the box as he waited for the sound of the annoying woman. Then, Just as suddenly as the lights had come on in the morning, the hall door opened and there she was! He heard her say to the lady at the desk. “Well Doris, I’m back, for some more of those ugly pens and note pads.”
Doris said, “Blanche, will you stop about the pens already!” Then she laughed. “Most of them write pretty good, and, they’re free!”
“Oh! I know that,” said Blanche, “but.. green and yellow! UGLY!!!” Blanche threw open the supply closet doors and grabbed a hand full of pens and some note pads and dumped them in the pink bag she carried. If the little green pen could have, he would have jumped for joy. He was out of the box! He was going out to the world! Then Blanche closed the bag and it was dark again. Little green pen waited.
The next time the bag was opened the woman grabbed two of the pens and a couple of note pads and then closed it. This seemed to be the routine for several hours. Each time the bag was opened the little green pen thought, “Maybe I’m next!”, until at last he counted only six pens left! Yes! Maybe he would be next!
Finally the bag was opened again and he heard the Blanche, (the annoying woman), say, “Sure I got about 6 left. You want them all Nancy? You’re my last stop” A new and different voice said. “Yes. I’ll take them. You know how we nurses are about pens and note pads.” Blanche’s hand reached in and pulled all the pens and note pads out and laid them on the desk in front of the new woman. Finally! The little green pen was out in the world! He looked quickly around as the woman named Nancy scooped up the pens and put them in a round almost empty container on her desk and the note pads into a drawer.
“How you stand those pens I’ll never know,” said Blanche.
Nancy laughed, “They’re just something to write with. Besides, they don’t last long around here! Either the nurses loose them or a patient snitches them... And, hey, they write pretty good. Anyway, thanks a lot!”
The two women left the office and little green pen looked around. The office was different, but almost the same kind as the one with the supply closet. He could see from the container, where he had been dropped, a reflection in the glass on the computer screen, for the first time he could really see himself.
He saw a very dark green pen with five others that looked just like him. In the middle, he had a bright yellow band that separated him into two parts; his clip had a turned up end. On the bottom part he had a logo, but all he could see, due to the container he was in was, “ENDA” and a little yellow and red bow or maybe it was a flame or something. Whatever it was, he was pleased with the effect.
He heard footsteps. “Nancy?”, said a voice. He could not see in the direction of the voice, as he was turned toward the computer, but he could see the reflection of a young woman behind him in the computer glass. She was looking around the small office, and realizing Nancy was not present.
However, she did not have to wait long until Nancy appeared in the doorway. She said, “What do you need Faith?”
“Oh there you are, my pen just quit, do you have one I can borrow?” Asked Faith.
Nancy smiled. “Sure, take one of those in the pencil box.”
“Ok. Thanks.” Faith took two of the pens and returned to the hospital floor. The little green pen was one of the two. He was almost quivering with excitement! When Faith returned to her station she laid both pens on the desk and then picked up the other pen and proceeded to write! Oh my... Little green pen was disappointed. He lay on the desk and watched the young woman writing with the other pen. Men and women young and old came and went and yet... no one picked him up.
Finally after what seemed hours an older woman came up and asked Faith if she had a pen she could use to write an order with. The young woman picked up the little green pen and tossed him to her. She took little green pen and wrote for a few minutes... (Joy! He was writing!) and then started to hand him back to the young woman.
Faith shook her head. “Keep it Joan. I got if from Nancy anyway. It’s one of those product pins she gets for free.”
Joan said, “Thanks Faith, I should be able to wear it out with all the charting I need to do.” Both women laughed and little green pen was dropped into a pocket. For the rest of the day little green pen rode in the woman’s pocket and was taken out and used and put back in the pocket. The little green pen was thrilled! He wrote and wrote! He made sure that the ink at the end of his barrel never skipped. He learned new words like: pain, shoulder, Foley, back and deuce. He was not sure what any of them meant... yet... but he made sure that his ink was smooth and continuous.
Later, the lady dropped him into her pocket and went home. She hung the jacket in a closet and so little green pen spent the his first night in the world in the pocket of a jacket, in a new closet! This time he slept well, he was out in the world. Besides, he was worn out from the events of the day!
In the morning, it was a while before the little green pen realized the jacket he was in was in motion. When he was finally awake he realized that the woman who owned the jacket was returning to her job. This was exciting... another day of being able to write! (and hopefully please his human).
He did his very best to write smooth, without skipping, and, even though the woman never said anything about what a good pen he was, he was determined to do the kind of job pens get praised for! So he did the best job he could do.
Days passed and he continued to write and do the best he could.
One day he was taken from his pocket, and tossed across a strange table to a middle aged woman who picked him up and wrote for several minutes. When the new woman tried to return him to Joan, the woman with the pocket, (as he had started calling her), Joan told her to keep him. The new woman took the little green pen and thanked the pocket woman. The Little green pen had a new human!
The new woman had used little green pen for about an hour when she started to look at him. She held little green pen up and said, “Look everybody! Don’t you think this little green pen looks like it’s getting ready for a formal date?” Everyone in the room, but one, stopped what they were doing and looked at the little green pen. The women that had not looked said, “Just ignore her. She’s just full of weird ideas of late... I think she’s having a mid-life crisis!” Everyone laughed. The lady with the little green pen laughed too. “Yes, I do believe he is ready for a date! He has on his dark green tux and his yellow cummerbund and his formal tie with the upturn at the end. Yes I think I will have to find him a date!” The women in the room laughed louder.
Little green pen was so happy, he wrote and wrote the rest of the day as faithful as he promised he would and that night he slept not in a box, not in a drawer or a pocket, but on the night stand beside the bed of HIS HUMAN! He was very, very happy to have found his home at last!