Here's one of mine.
PRONE
Episode 2
Déjà view all over again
I had just come through a new experience. I had spent
a couple of nights in the hospital, it was the first time in my life I had spent
a night without other family members milling about. It was very strange. I'm not
sure if I liked it or not, it would be twelve years before I had my own room. I'm not complaining,
just saying.
I had only been out of the hospital a few days, I had
exhausted my option of staying home or going to school. Supposedly there was a
lot more for me to learn that first year. I reluctantly headed back to school.
It was recess. One of the things I had learned in grade one was, not to stand
against the south facing wall of the school, so. I strategically positioned myself
on the back side of a telephone pole that faced the school yard. Not only did I
feel safe, but brilliant as well. I remember standing in the midst of chaos, once
again, contemplating my own existence, minding my own business. I don't know if
any of you can remember the big red balls with the weird little lines all over
them, they were about the size of a basketball, but quite a bit more lively,
like a thick skinned beach ball. Picture one of those bouncing right to me. I
know, sure, it's a "soft" ball, but I'm not letting it hit my new nose. I caught
it in my arms, and, before I could examine the situation and discover where it
came from and where it should go, it was driven from my arms by, I suspected,
some kid who wanted it. Too bad the big fisted numpty* caught my nose before
hitting the ball. Oh oh! The little mob started to assemble again, these little
nose pickers are starting to creep me out. Thanks to my brother Lou, he came to my
rescue and ushered me into the school and handed me over to a grown up. The
diagnosis wasn't good, Tony and his buddy would get to walk me home again, there
would be another alien sighting, mom would hold her little boy with the big
swollen head until dad came to chauffeur me up to the hospital again. There I
was, standing on the front seat of the car on the way to the hospital. Deja
view, except, I didn't have much of a view, my eyes were swelling
shut. It was like looking through a Venetian blind, yeah, that only had two slats, and closed.
I hadn't marked a reference point on that ceiling tile
so I had to start counting from the beginning, what can I say, I didn't expect
to be back so soon. The gurney started moving again and I noticed a bunch of
familiar looking faces, ones I had hoped to never see again. The voices were
much more muted this time but I knew what they were up to, it had only been a
week or so. It took four of them to hold me down and another two to get the mask
on. Then they turned off the lights again.
Same room, same bed, new tape, more experience. The
nurses were always smiling and pleasant, I hope that they remember me as polite,
I'm pretty sure I wasn't pleasant. I knew the Dinky toys meant I wasn't going
home, I would add them to my collection of hammer victims. It was even better
leaving the hospital the second time.
*Numpty
Noun (pl) -ties
1. (Scot, informal) a stupid person
I like this word,
I learned it during a great visit with my sister Louise and her husband
Dave at their home in St. Andrews. After an afternoon of golfing with Dave and
his friends Andy and John, we ran into Andy's cousin as we were leaving the
parking lot. I was sitting between the two of them as they talked to each other
through the window, the thick Scottish accents were going in one ear, garbling
up my brain cells, then exiting the other. I needed subtitles. Although they
were very hard to understand I did surmise something about a party Andy's cousin
had forgotten he was supposed to have helped his wife get ready for that very
evening. I didn't have to surmise the word numpty though. He definitely used it
to describe himself.
Have a great day
Loved
