A Telescope for Tommy

“Wow!” cried Tommy. “This the very best present ever! Thanks Mum! Thanks Dad!”

It was Tommy Totten’s twelfth birthday, and he, together with his parents and two younger sisters, had gone shopping for a present. Tommy was also going into high school for the first time at the end of the holidays, so they’d come to get something special. The five of them had bypassed the usual department stores to see if they could find something different: something that would mean much more than the usual electronic games, or mobile phones; something that would reflect the interest Tommy had always shown in things nautical.

They’d already been through several antique shops. Some of their wares were lovely, but very expensive, and they had left without purchasing anything. They were almost at the point of giving up when Tommy spotted the shop down an unusual cobbled street that they found in an old part of town. None of them had seen either the street or the shop before, but both looked like they had been there for hundreds of years. The family looked around as they walked slowly towards the shop door, taking in the antique architecture and the atmosphere. It felt like they had taken a step back in time, even though they could still hear the traffic on the highway a few hundred metres away.

Tommy pushed open the door first, and the tinkle of a bell announced their entry. It was a narrow shop, and at the back was a door, through which appeared a motherly looking woman, a welcoming smile on her face. She was dressed in the style of a period long gone, but appeared to be quite at one with her surroundings. Tommy and his family thought it was great that someone would dress up that way. It made the experience of coming to the shop even more interesting than it already was.

“Can I help you at all?” asked the woman in a cheery voice. “I can show you lots of things, or you can tell me if you are looking for something in particular.”

“Thank you,” replied Mr Totten. He indicated his son, who was absorbed in a dream catcher that hung from a nail in the wall. “It’s Tommy’s birthday tomorrow, and we’re looking for a suitable gift for him. Perhaps you can tell us what kinds of things you have here.”

He looked around, realising that there was quite a variety of items for sale in the shop, most of it appearing to be second-hand. It was actually very much like an old curiosity shop. A “something for everyone” place.

“What are you interested in young man?” the woman asked Tommy, who turned his gaze towards her. “I can see that you like the dream catcher.”

“Does it really catch dreams?” asked Tommy’s youngest sister, Clare.

“It certainly does young lady.” The woman smiled, happy to answer the girl’s question.

“Well, when it catches them, what does it do with them?” Clare asked.

“Now that’s something I cannot tell you, my dear. Perhaps you will have to see for yourself when you are older.”

The woman turned back to Tommy. “So, what does interest you?”

“That’s easy,” replied Tommy. “I love things to do with the sea. Especially old things that have been used by those who really did sail all over the world.”

“Ah! Someone who knows what he likes. That’s quite a rare thing in someone of your age. Why do you love the sea? Have you ever sailed in a boat?”

“No, not yet. It’s hard when we live in the city and don’t have too much money. One day I’m going to learn to sail. I’ll buy a boat and sail around the world.”

“Well now, that’s a fine ambition indeed! And one I hope you have success in. Now, I think I have the very thing for you.”

She led Tommy and his father towards the back of the shop. Mrs Totten and the girls were looking to see what wonders they could find amongst the clutter on the shelves. Tommy heard his sister Jessica say that she would love to have a silver hairbrush she’d found, while Mrs Totten liked the look of an old, but beautifully made quilt. Sarah was still gazing at the dream catcher, and Tommy wondered if it really would catch the dreams he thought he could see in her eyes.

The friendly woman had stopped next to an old leather doctor’s bag, and Tommy wondered if that was what she was going to show them. But she moved the bag aside, revealing something that made Tommy draw in his breath in surprise and wonder. He exhaled slowly.

“Golly!” he gasped. “It’s a real brass telescope!”

The woman placed the telescope in Tommy’s hands. He held it reverently. It was about six inches long, and was covered with leather. He gently took hold of the eyepiece and pulled it out. The telescope had three brass sections and it expanded out to about eighteen inches. It opened smoothly. Tommy’s eyes were shining and there was now a big smile on his face.

“It opens and closes properly, and has a leather covering,” he said. “The lenses are both there and they aren’t cracked or anything.”

He could hardly believe what he was seeing, what he was holding in his hands. He knew this telescope was special. He could feel it.

“It’s lovely,” he whispered, and then, regretfully, handed the telescope back to the woman. “But it will be too expensive for Mum and Dad to buy. Thank you for letting me hold it for a while.”

Tommy’s father looked at the woman. “How much do you want for it?” he asked tentatively. When the woman declared that Tommy was the person the telescope had been waiting for, and that it cost only a small sum, he couldn’t believe his ears.

“You can’t just give such a valuable instrument away!” exclaimed Mr Totten.

“But it’s too good to sell for that price!” objected Tommy at the same time.

“Whsshht,” tutted the woman. “If it is to go to the right person, then it must go to the right person. Cost has nothing to do with it! Now that’s the cost, and if you really want it you must take it. Like I said, it’s been waiting for this young fellow for a long time.”

Tommy and his father could hardly express their gratitude. They could hardly believe that it was true, and Mr Totten gladly paid the price that had been asked. Before they left the shop, the woman spoke quietly with Tommy. Then, while his father and the rest of the family looked on, she put the telescope into his hands.

“This the very best present ever! Thanks Mum! Thanks Dad! And thank you so much too,” Tommy added, looking at the woman. “I’ll never forget.”

“Off you go now young fellow, and do what it is the telescope wants you to do.”

With that, she ushered Tommy and his family out of the shop. Sarah had one last look at the dream catcher before she allowed herself to be led out onto the street.
…………………………………………

Tommy was to remember the day he received his telescope for the rest of his life. He grew, worked hard at his studies and, when he finished school, he went into a military academy. He graduated top of his class and went on to become a high-ranking officer in his country’s Navy. In his spare time, Tommy built, rather than bought his own sailing ship, and he sailed it around the world, just as he’d said he would. He became known as an expert yachtsman, a person you would want to be with if there was danger around. There were stories that his telescope, which he carried everywhere with him, had some sort of magical power.

Men told of how Tommy Totten could see a storm coming hours, even days, before anyone else. He took care of his ships and their crews as no other officer did, and his ships became sought-after postings because they seemed to be so lucky. He even became known as Lucky Tommy Totten, and it wasn’t just because of his reputation in the navy. His mates in the sailing ships he crewed in or captained said he was able to predict more than storms.

They told of how he had cleared his crew from a section of deck just before a broken spar crashed down upon the place they’d been standing just a minute before. Someone else told how Lucky Tommy had advised two men to stay out of the water when they were out scuba diving in what should have been safe waters. A few minutes later, the one who had ignored his warning was taken by a shark. Another time, a friend of Tommy’s was about to drive along the coast road on an Indonesian island. Tommy had suggested that his friend wait until the next day before making the journey. That afternoon, the coast was devastated by a tsunami.

Many other stories followed Tommy wherever he went, but he just laughed them off. “Just lucky,” he’d say. He was popular and respected, so people didn’t talk about him when he was there. But every now and then a story about himself would take his attention more strongly. At those times, he would remember back to the present he had received for his twelfth birthday. He would feel himself back in that shop, touching the telescope for the first time, knowing that it was something special.

He would remember what the woman had said when she had placed the telescope in his hands before he left.

This telescope has seen many owners - or should I say care-takers, she had told him. Of them all, you are the one who will use it to its fullest potential. With this beautiful instrument, you will see far - very far indeed. Use it well and use it wisely, and the two of you will be together for a long time.