Mexico City
The short story Mexico City from 1950 was written by Ray Bradbury. The original name for this story was The Window. It was later named Mexico City and Calling Mexico. All three names make sense considering what the story is about.
This short story is about an elderly man, Colonel Freeleigh, who lives at home alone. He has a nurse visit him because he is ill. He never goes out and experiences things. He has not been out for ten years. The only excitement in his life is the phone in his room, which he uses to call an old friend Jorge in Mexico City. Jorge lets Freeleigh listen to the bustling noises of the big city outside by laying the phone by the window. When the nurse realises that Freeleigh calls home, she decides that he is not allowed to use the phone anymore, as the excitement overworks his weak heart. This makes Freeleigh desperate, which causes his chest pains to get worse than before. He calls Jorge once more, to listen to the sounds of the city life again. He imagines himself in Mexico City. At the end of the short story, his three sons visit him. The sons know that they cannot come because he is ill, but they came when the nurse was out. When they arrive, they see him lying, dead on the floor. When one of the sons, Douglas, picks up the phone he hears the closing of the window.
Freeleigh’s prison cell of a home obviously makes him uncomfortable. His phone means a lot to him, as this is his only way to talk to the world outside. In the beginning of the short story when he wakes up from his nightmare, the first thing he is searching for is the phone. He is relieved to find it, “it was still there! He crushed it against his chest for a moment, blinking.” The fact that the nurse wants to take this away from him distresses him.
The first thing he does when he wakes from the shocking, horrendous dream is to call an old friend in Mexico City.