She could hear the faint groans of life stirring from the master bedroom.
“Fuck. He’s awake.”
With a heavy sigh, she struggled to turn her head toward the window. She could hear his soft approach, the door squeaking open. Will he ever fix that fucking squeak?
“How do you feel this morning? Ready for breakfast?”
“Would you just leave me alone? I can’t bear this ritual anymore.” Why must he torment me so?
“Look at me, Clara. Can’t you even look at me?” His soft touch caressed her cheek, brushed her hair back.
Her reply was less biting this time, her voice suddenly soft, tears streaming down her cheeks to wet the pillow. “I can’t stand for you to see me this way.” Please don’t look at me.
“How long will it take for you to realize I’m not going anywhere? Nor do I want to. How long will it take for you to see the richness of life still in your grasp?”
He realized his mistake as soon as it escaped his lips.
“Heh, my grasp. My grasp?!” Her eyes flitted down toward her motionless hands, then up at him.
“I’m sorry, Clara.” He cocked his head to the side, eyes suddenly flashing. “No. You know what? I’m not sorry,” he said in a stern voice. She couldn’t remember the last time this gentle man grew so stern. “I’m not sorry at all. I’m done tiptoeing around you, and you’re done existing this way. This is no life.”
She gasped as she looked up at him, eyes surprised as the tears slowly dried. He continued, “Right here. Right now. You make a choice. Are you going to live? Or are you going to die? If you want to die, you know she’ll do it. I can call her right now, and a simple injection will end it all. You have that right. But if you’re to live, things change. Starting right now. So what’s it gonna be?”
She eked out the barest of whispers, “Live.”
“I. Can’t. Hear. You.”
“Live. I want to live.”
He stooped over, draped her arm around the back of his neck and carefully lifted and carried her to the wheelchair. He smacked the wheel nearest him and smirked, “You think I haven’t heard you call this a fucking prison? This, my dear girl, this is your freedom. This is your steed. Your iron horse.” He wheeled her down the hallway, through the living room and carefully out the front door and onto the porch. “Now. Where do you want to go? What do you want to do?”
“Everywhere,” she whispered. “Everything.”
“That’s my girl.”
Love it….
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Thank you, Cameron! 🙂
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Pleasure 🙂
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Wow! This brought a tingling along my skin, a chill through my spine and a tear to my eye. This literally happened. Powerful!
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Wow…I…wow, I hardly know what to say. You’ve floored me with your kindness. Thank you!
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well, I’m merely reporting the truth of my reaction…it was fucking powerful (pardon my vulgarity)!
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I shall not pardon your “vulgarity”! It was fucking great – your vulgarity, I mean. And perfectly welcome. I’d prefer you just be you, whatever comes out. (That sounds really gross now, but you know what I mean.)
And thank you… 🙂
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I have a tough time with that, honestly. It’s a fucked up place to be, caring about other people’s reactions – terrified of someone’s judgment (because, that’s really what it is, right?)
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That’s exactly what it is. I struggle with it myself. I like to think I’ve made great strides, but I’ve a terribly long way to go.
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(((hugs))) to you then! Let’s fight the good fight – Fucking the world at large! 😛 And by “fucking” I mean flipping them off…not actually…well, you get it, right???!!!???
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HUGS! HAHAHAHAHA! I dunno, I could get on board with fucking the world at large. Sure, I mean flipping them off. 😉
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You’re awesome! Thanks for making my laugh tonight, I haven’t done that in sooooo long. 🙂
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There’s only one thing on earth I like more than laughter. Maybe two. I’m glad you laughed…you made me laugh, too!!
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Yes, I think laughter are in my top two or three favorite things too….hehehehehe!
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But laughter WHILE doing the other one or two? Nothing tops that! 😀
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Well, um…I don’t know…it might be uncouth. 😀
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That’s what makes it so fucking perfect!
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BWAHAHAHAHA! And evil, if we happen to agree on at least one of those things.
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If by “evil,” you mean “fun,” then we totally agree. 😉
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Evil has a different meaning…???? Wait, I’m confused now… 😉
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Hahaha! You most certainly are NOT.
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Whew! You had me worried for a moment. 😀
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No, I totally meant there’s another meaning. Like…fun evil. MUAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA kind of evil.
Or just delightfully mischievous. One of my favorite states of being!
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Evil minds…er, Fun minds think alike! 😀
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Damn right!
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Amazing story!
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Thank you, Kay!
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Oh wow!! Steph, this is amazing…what a powerfully dramatic scene! Brilliant!
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That means tons to me, Eric – thank you!!!
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💙💙💙
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❤
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Oh My !
I could “feel” them 🙂
Turtle Hugs
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Thank you SO much, sweet Turtle! 🙂
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My pleasure 🙂
I was in the scene , like in a very good movie 🙂
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You’re awesome!!!
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😉
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Beautiful and not the story line I was expecting. 😀
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I hope that’s a good thing! And thank you!!
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Yes that is good. 🙂
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Thank you so much!
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Oh Steph, I love this.
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Thank you, Rita!
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Beautiful job!
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🌺
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This is great toasty
Can’t wait to see more
Sheldon
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Thank you so much! I’m kind of sort of tossing around ideas of how I could expand this one into something bigger.
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excellent story Steph 🙂
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Thank you, Kim! 🙂
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A big smile story! Thanks 🙂
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Yay! Thank you, Anna!! 🙂
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You’re welcome! Sorry for not being around lately. I haven’t had much time for reading blogs. I miss that, but I hope to be back soon 🙂
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No apologies, sweet Anna! I’ve been a terrible reader lately, so I completely understand! It’s good to hear from you! 🙂
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Thanks!
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Invigorating …
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Oo I like that word…thank you. 🙂
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Love this
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Thank you, Tikeetha!
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Beautiful! Agape!
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