My Beautiful Failure Read Online Free

begins with the call and ends with the call. In fact, if someone you know calls, you should not acknowledge that you recognize them. That would be a violation of the Incoming’s privacy.
    I asked what an Incoming was, and Richie, a blond curl bobbing knowledgeably on his forehead, told me an Incoming is the person who calls.
    Pep pushed up her sleeve to reveal a thick gold watch. She explained that Listeners had special terms for certain things and that I would have to learn the lingo.
    I felt stupid, because I should have been able to figure out what an Incoming was. I decided not to ask many questions, in case they thought I wasn’t bright enough to do the job.
    2. IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU. Always keep the conversation focused on the Incoming. Do not reveal any personal information about yourself. Don’t tell the Incomings anything about your experiences, problems,or preferences. Do not give advice. You don’t necessarily know any more about solving their problems than they do. Just listen to them and reflect what they’re saying.
    Margaret waved her hand between us as if we were role-playing a phone conversation. She told me that the best way to respond to the Incoming was to be like a mirror: Repeat what they’ve already said, even using the same words. She said that this might feel awkward, but it would let the Incoming know that I was really listening.
    3. ENTER THEIR WORLD. Never question the reality of your Incomings. If they say they’re royalty, believe them. If they say they’re the leader of special forces in Afghanistan, believe them. If they say they woke up this morning and discovered they were living in the middle of a spiderweb, believe them.
    Margaret told me that one Incoming actually did believe he was living in a spiderweb.
    Richie chimed in that it helped to think of each person as a different planet. For instance, if Jason called with the spiderweb thing, I should tell myself that I was living on the Jason Planet and that was okay.
    4. ALWAYS ASK (ALWAYS!). Listeners is in the business of suicide prevention. You must ask each Incoming whether he or sheis feeling suicidal. If the Incoming says yes, follow the procedure for urging the Incoming to call the police or a hospital. But if the Incoming doesn’t give you permission to call emergency services, there is nothing you can do.
    I flinched as if I’d been paintballed in the face. This I could not believe. Nothing we could do? A suicidal person is on the line and we’re supposed to just hang up? I asked if this was because we had no addresses or phone numbers. Margaret said that was right: We had no records, no last names, no nothing. Just a voice on the phone.

10.
rule number 4
    M argaret asked if I was all right. She said I looked like I had stopped breathing.
    I told her I’d felt fine until rule number 4. I rested my hand on one of the phones as if to test myself. The job was monumental, the ultimate responsibility. The way the rules were written, someday someone might call and mine would be the last voice that person would ever hear. In a few days I would start saving lives. But only if they wanted to be saved.
    I talked with my teen mentors for a few more minutes. Then I rode home with the booklet in one hand, curled around the handlebars. As I reached the driveway I stashed the booklet in my pack. I liked having a booklet no one in my family was allowed to read. It was my book of secrets.

11.
in my corner
    B ack home, Mom was working on the high-end laptop she inherited when she became Brooksbie director.
    “How was it?” she asked as I walked into the all-white living room.
    “Excellent,” I said.
    “Did you save anyone?”
    “Not yet,” I told her. I carried my bike, Triumph, across the carpet and into my room. Rolling the bike across the white rug was definitely verboten.
    “I know you, Billy,” Mom called. She had closed her laptop on the big square coffee table and curled her bare feet up into the chair. “You don’t