Don't Label Me! by Arwen Jayne

needed
to learn to pause like that more often.
    Most things if you’re asked to do them
straight away are for someone else’s benefit.
    Phoenix nodded in agreement. The voice that
had recently been sounding in her head probably indicated some sort
of mental illness but it usually was right in what it said. She
dismissed it, as she usually did, as her subconscious mind taking
on a voice of calming authority.
    No use pretending to yourself it doesn’t
happen, just don’t advertise the fact.
    No, she sure as hell wasn’t going to do
that. The fact was she’d panicked when she’d seen that ‘account
balance unavailable’ at the bottom of the sms message. In truth it
had probably been there on all the previous monthly sms alerts, she
just hadn’t noticed it. Since she didn’t use that account often it
hadn’t hit her radar. Instead of panicking she could have waited
until she could get to a bank branch which she was going to have to
do anyway. Better than running up her monthly mobile phone charge.
Gods she felt stupid at times. Having a degree in journalism did
nothing to quell that underlying feeling that she was somehow
totally and irrevocably inadequate.
    It’s not the mistake that’s a problem it’s
how you get out of it. If you sat at home and never did anything
you’d never make a mistake. Acknowledge the mistake, know what you
did wrong. Pause next time. Then find a way to use what you’ve
learnt to make a difference for the next person. The message had
probably more to do with that account giving zero interest if you
choose to take any money out of it.
    “ Yeah, you’re right.” Bloody hell,
what was she doing. She was talking back to her subconscious now.
She might do a piece on the annoyances of the banking industry
though. The hoops you had to jump through to get any return at all
on your savings.
    Her mobile phone’s ringtone startled her out
of her brooding. “Hello? Oh hi Tyra. They did what? Yeah sure I’d
love to do an exclusive interview. In Boswell? I’ll need some way
to get my cameraman and soundo inside though. Can you arrange for a
pickup? Sure. Yeah look forward to it. See you then.” She hung up
and smiled. This she could do. This she was good at. By the time
this story aired the Valeton council members who’d just sacked Tyra
as mayor would look like the short sighted idiots they were. Well
all except their new mayor, Peter Stein, who Tyra said had had a
recent change of heart and looked like pushing ahead with most, if
not all, of Tyra’s ideas.
    She picked up her phone again and started to
chase up her film crew. Now how did she go about explaining to them
about the chasm at Boswell’s front door?
     
    At the edge of the chasm Phoenix’s crew
peered over the edge with a mixture of bemusement and horror. “What
are you thinking Red? There’s nothing and even if there was how
would we get down there? Absail?”
    Phoenix groaned. She expected this. “Look,
just get in the car will you. I just need to make a call and we’ll
have an escort who can get us in.” Since she’d had the retrovirus
she could now see Boswell as clear as day but she remembered what
she’d seen her first time over the chasm. She certainly wasn’t
going to risk her crew’s lives. What’s to say that only the front
of the car with her driving made it through. But before she could
make her call her phone rang. The caller ID surprised her. “Boss?
What’s up? You’re joking? Shit! I need to put this on speaker phone
so the guys can hear this too. Okay boss, we’re all listening now,
could you repeat that?”
    “ Just this; I’ve received a directive
from very high up that we are not to give any more coverage to
Boswell. We’re to ignore its existence. If you proceed with this
story I’ll, regretfully, have no choice but to sack you. Sorry team
but the station’s budget is up for review, if you get my
drift.”
    “ Understood boss. We’ll head back to
base shortly.” But damn she didn’t