The One Armed, Three Legged Chair

by Joseph Vincent

talk let alone hear?"

  Zair left the chair without a word to say and the Omach with a wide smile.

  After a moment of silence, the Omach asked the chair if it would really like an eye.

  "Would it help if I said 'please'?"

  "Certainly,” the Omach smiled at Zair who was standing firm on the seat of the chair. "And would you have any preference as to the location of this eye?"

  "How could I possibly know where I want the eye, when I am blind as a beepat?" the chair sneered.

  "Once again I am truly sorry chair." The Omach looked at Zair. "If I knew all of this was going to happen... I would have probably been happier with a chair I just sat on."

  Zair flew back onto the chair's arm. "It does have a bit of an attitude," Zair said and thought for a moment. "I think you should give it a pretty eye, then maybe the grumpy ol' chair might have something nice to say."

  "Okay, so I got off to a bad start. I am sorry." The chair let out a sigh. "But try and imagine how you would act, I mean after all I am a chair, and no matter what you think, chairs have never been know for their manners... In fact, chairs have never been known for much of anything."

  The Omach reached a finger out for Zair and picked him up. "He is right my little friend. Have you ever given a chair much thought? I have to admit it myself, except for being glad it was there when I wanted to sit and my crazy notion of having something to talk with, I never gave it much thought."

  "What are you saying?" Zair asked, “that because it is a chair it can be rude?"

  "No, I just think we should start over and give each other the respect and courtesy we all deserve... But first I will give the chair an eye. Then after we can all see each other, we will try again. What do you say?"

  Zair agreed and hopped onto the Omach's shoulder

  "Sounds like a good idea to me." The chair said and smiled slightly. "Besides, I did not go around sitting on anyone."

  “But you are a chair,” Zair reminded. "You are supposed to be sat on"

  "And am I supposed to speak and hear?"

  "The chair is right." The Omach said thinking out loud. "Now that it can speak and hear, it is no longer, just an ordinary chair."

  "Then I am no longer just a bird." Zair added and ruffled his feathers.

  "You, my friend, were never just a bird." The Omach smiled.

  Zair looked at the Omach and at the chair. He understood what the Omach was saying and wanted to remember always, that things are not always what they appear to be.

  "Now chair,” the Omach pulled the chair closer to him, "how does this sound? I will take my knife and poke you here and there until I hit the spot where you feel you would like an eye?" The Omach twirled the knife with his fingers.

  "That sounds fine." The old chair agreed with the Omach's idea.

  The Omach touched the chair’s back with the point of his blade just about two inches above its’ mouth. "How does that feel?"

  "No, up a little higher," the chair answered.

  "There?" The Omach moved the knife up about three inches and gently poked the chair.

  "How about a little bit to the right?" The chair waited for the Omach to move and poke. "Yes, that feels just right."

  "All right then, here comes your eye."

  "Make it a little bigger." Zair suggested.

  The Omach adjusted the outline with his knife. It was an oval shape, wide and deep-set. It seemed the perfect eye for a rickety old chair that could speak, hear, and soon-to-see.

  When the Omach finished carving the chair's eye he sat back and slipped the knife behind his ear. Zair flew off of the Omach's shoulder and landed on the chair's seat.

  "Well, can you see?" Zair asked.

  "See? I can not even open it."

  Zair and the Omach watched as the chair's brand new eyelid tried and tried to open.

  "But is there any trace of light, any trace at all?" The Omach asked leaning forward.

  "Yes."

  "It works!" Zair shouted feeling very happy for the chair. "But why will it not open?"

  “I do not know,” the Omach confessed. “Maybe there is something stuck in it."

  He took his knife and carefully probed the eye. "Yes, there is something right here, here in the corner. If I can, very gently... pick this out." The Omach slipped the very tip of the knife under a small splinter that was stuck in the corner and flicked it out.

  “Now try."

  The eye started wincing and blinking. "I think it is going to work." The chair smiled as wide as its wooden mouth would allow and opened its eye! "It does work! I CAN SEE!

  Almost as fast as the old and rickety chair could blink, its attitude changed... for the better.

  “Oh thank you Omach I never thought it was possible. Imagine, I am a chair, a very old and rickety chair that can speak and hear and SEE. I never in my wildest dreams thought it was possible; in fact I never even had wild dreams. But I have a feeling I am going to have great dreams now. Dreams of talking and seeing and hearing and seeing and talking and oh my goodness I just can not believe what has happened to me..."

  Zair and the Omach looked at each other and smiled at the chair’s joy. They were truly happy for the chair and for one another for being a part of the experience.

  "...There has never been a chair as lucky as I am. Oh Omach, you will never know how happy I am and I will never forget what you have done for me." The rickety old and honored chair held out its arm out for the Omach to shake. "Thank you."

  The Omach smiled at the chair and took its arm "You have no reason to thank me chair. What I did for you, I did as much for me."

  “I do not understand." The chair looked at the Omach and Zair. "How was anything you did to me, for you?"

  The Omach smiled at the confused chair… "Do you think I enjoyed getting out of my bed every morning and talking to a chair, not that talking to a chair is bad, but to speak each and every morning and hear no response is sad. It reminded me every day of just how lonely I was." The Omach wiped a tear from his eye. "But now, now when I wake up I will have the good pleasure of seeing your grand smile and listening to the happiest voice in the meadow."

  “The two happiest voices in the meadow,” Zair said and flew onto the rickety old chair's arm.

  "You bet Zair." The Omach looked at his two new friends. "So you see, it was for me as well as you."

  “I understand,” the chair looked at Zair. "Thank you for suggesting he give me an ear. I really did find it hard to speak without knowing if I was making any sound at all."

  "You do not need to thank me; I was just helping the Omach."

  "And now chair," the Omach said, "you have the opportunity to go out and make friends of your own."

  "You mean I can go... out there?" The chair looked towards the door

  "Of-course"

  "But what will you sit on in the morning? Or when you eat, put on your shoes?" The rickety old chair seemed frightened at the thought of going outside.

  “There really is nothing to be afraid of,” the Omach reassured.

  “I think it might be too soon, I mean I did just learn how to talk and hear and see. No, I think it would be better if I stayed around here for a while and sort of pick things up as I go along."

  "Do not be afraid chair." Zair flew onto his seat. "I will go with you and make sure you stay out of trouble. And if you want, I will have you back here before dark, just in time to have dinner with the Omach."

  "You mean it?" The chair looked at Zair and then to the Omach. "And can I come back and stay..."

  "Chair, I would be pleased if you considered this hut your home for as long as you want... remember, I am looking forward to our early morning conversation... every morning. And besides, you do not have to leave the meadow in order to have a great time, there are so many things and creatures to learn about right here to keep you busy for weeks..."

  "And by then,” the chair said, “I will have learned enough to make it in the rest of the world."
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br />   "Chair," Zair said very seriously, "I am not sure you ever really know enough, like today."

  Zair flew from the seat of the chair and onto the Omach's shoulder. "I never thought I would know how to talk let alone watch the Omach give a chair the ability to lead its own life."

  The Omach smiled at his little friend knowing that he was fortunate to have picked such a bright little creature to give the power of speech.

  “I guess you are right Zair,” the chair said. “I never thought I would do much of anything except sit around and get dusty. Now look at me. I am about to go out that door and SEE things and HEAR things and even TALK to creatures and I am a chair. . I guess, after today, I will remember always to be ready to learn and never forget, that where you are today might not be where you are tomorrow."

  "But," the Omach asked, "what is the most important lesson that both of you have learned today?"

  Zair looked at the Omach and then at the chair. Both of them were puzzled. Zair flew from the Omach's shoulder and onto the chair's arm. "What do you think it is?"

  “I do not know." chair looked at the Omach. "Oh I know... no I said that already."

  Zair looked at the Omach. He knew that the Omach was wondering if he had made the right decision when he picked him and the chair to work his wizardry upon.

  Then it came to him.

  “I know, I know." Zair hopped down onto the chair's seat and looked directly at him. "Think about it chair, the most important lesson learned by you, and by me, is standing right there, the Omach."

  “You are right." The chair looked at the Omach and smiled as wide as wood would allow. “The most important thing I learned today, is that when you least expect