It might as well have been in another language, as Coral could make neither head nor tail of the message that was on her phone. It was from her eldest grandson, Tyler. She read it again, slower this time, but the content remained elusive.

“OMW TTYL THX”

She’d have had better luck if he’d sent one of those little picture messages with the funny faces. Even she could manage those ones. She loved the smiley face; it always brightened her day.

Coral wondered if perhaps the young woman next door, Aimee, might be able to help interpret the message for her. But she didn’t want to be a bother, and the last time she had asked Aimee about something that was inexplicable to her in a text message, Aimee hadn’t managed to control her eye roll before explaining slowly that YOLO meant that you only live once. It hadn’t been that helpful, but as Coral had initially thought that one of her granddaughters was sending a message about some new type of chocolate, she’d been thankful for the insight. She’d even held herself back from saying that she wasn’t slow or dim-witted, just not sure of what it was that her grandkids were telling her.

With a sigh, Coral put her mobile down and picked up the local newspaper. She loved doing the weekly crossword. At least she stood a chance of solving it, even with some of their more cryptic clues.

I’m participating in this blogging challenge for the month of January, which supports starting the year on the “write” track. You can find other posts with #bloganuary and join in the challenge.

Photo: a collection of old phones at Kandos Museum