The Lifeline by Tom Ellen EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Tom Ellen
- Language: English
- Genre: Friendship Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
WILL
26th February, present day
Green Shoots office, Limehouse, London
The phone is ringing.
I push aside my Tupperware containing tonight’s dinner – a gluey
clump of leftover tuna pasta – and feel my chest tighten as I lift the receiver.
‘Hello? Green Shoots Crisis Line?’
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‘Oh hello … Is that Jack?’
The tightness slackens at the sound of my ‘safe name’. It’s a voice I
recognise. ‘Hello, Eric,’ I say.
‘Oh, Jack. Great to hear you. I’ve been trying for a while now. I was
worried I wouldn’t get through.’
‘Yes, sorry about that. We’ve been busy tonight.’
This is something of an understatement. I’ve been volunteering at Green
Shoots for almost five years now, so I know that no shift is ever the same,
but this evening has been properly hard going. Some nights I sit in this
dingy little basement office for hours and the phone doesn’t ring once. And
some nights – like tonight – I barely have time to make a cup of tea
between calls.
It’s nice, actually. No time to think. No time to let today’s date pull me
under.
So far, as well as two regular callers, I’ve had three very heavy firsttimers: a young bloke with serious money worries, a woman who suspects
her husband is cheating, and a tearful father terrified that his daughter might
be self-harming. As such, it’s a relief to hear a familiar voice: Eric’s voice.
It’s a relief to know this won’t be a conversation that spins out of control.
I cradle the phone in the crook of my neck and start logging the call on
the computer.
‘How are you tonight, Eric?’
‘Oh, not so bad, Jack. Can’t complain. Although that’s what I’m usually
ringing you to do.’
He laughs. I laugh. It’s our little ritual, this: the same jokey exchange
that’s opened every conversation we’ve had for the past five years. I’m not
sure how long Eric has been calling this helpline, but it’s definitely since
before I started here. Like so many of the other regulars, Green Shoots
really is a lifeline for him. His sole connection to the outside world. He’ll
often tell me that mine is the only voice he has heard all day.
‘Have you had your tea?’ I ask, and from the computer’s drop-down
menu, I select ‘60–70’ for ‘age’, and ‘regular caller’ for ‘call type’.
‘Oh yes. Microwave biryani. Morrisons’ finest.’
‘Excellent.’
‘Just settling down to watch MasterChef now.’
From the drop-down menu, I click ‘reason for call’ and select
‘loneliness’.
‘Oh yeah? New series, isn’t it?’
‘That’s right. They look a lovely bunch, the new contestants. They’re
doing desserts tonight. It’s making me wish I’d bought something sweet for
my pudding.’
He tries a laugh, but it doesn’t quite come off.
‘Are you … all right, Eric?’
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