Story Snippets

A fluffy gauze pad was stuffed in front of my eye, obscuring my vision, pressing against my damaged and bleeding eye like a child presses a teddy bear close for a comforting hug, or how a dog presses itself into the ground when it’s being scolded. Both involved a feeling of sadness of sadness, and I ached at the fact that I was comparing myself to either one. I resented the sadness I felt and the sense of self-pity that I felt radiating from me.

I never realized getting into bed could be so difficult. The tears started to form in the corner of my good eye.

The IV pinched my arm as I bent my elbow to lean myself back, holding the bedside supports in an attempt to push myself into a comfortable position. The tears multiplied with each pinch and flinch from the pain.

How could such a simple effort hurt so much?

Tears turned into sobs.

It felt so cold in the hospital room, especially through the paper-thin hospital gown. My shivers increased and shook my body almost as violently as my sobs did. I had never felt so scared in my life.

I wiggled around and burrowed deeper into the hospital blankets so I could feel some semblance of comfort (and possibly even warmth) in my stupid bed but with frustration I realized that comfort was going to be a luxury I wouldn’t experience for awhile, no matter what the outcome of today’s events.

I desperately reached for my phone but found nothing. With a sigh I realized I must have sat on it. My frustration grew as the tears slid down my cheeks and fell onto the thin hospital garment.

“Mom, I may have sat on my phone, but I can’t feel where it is…” I croaked, realizing my phone was on my left side...the bad side. More tears plummeted down my cheek.

Sensing the increasing panic, my mom tried to calm me down. She placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“It’s okay honey, I’ll find it…relax! Take a deep breath.” 

I felt her reach around the bed, looking for my phone. I sniffled quietly.

“Here, Zoe!” she said excitedly as she found it and tried to hand it to me.  But because of my obscured vision I didn’t see her.. I didn’t know where her hand was. I turned, feeling the pinch of the IV once again, and saw her reaching towards me with my phone in her hand.

“Just set it down,” I sobbed in frustration and tried to take a shaky breath. “I don’t want it anymore,” covering my face with my hands and shaking with more sobs. 

The tears continued to cloud the vision in my good eye, making it hard to see in general. My body tensed.  Is this what life will be like for me from now on? What was going to happen to my vision? This wasn’t even my fault, I screamed internally. This wasn’t my doing!

Everything was so overwhelming and made me cry even harder.

The panic increased and I was sure every nurse on the floor heard my nervous breakdown.

At that point, however, I didn’t even care. Eventually my breathing steadied and the room stopped spinning. My mom was able to talk me through deep breaths that managed to slow down my heart, that felt like it had been beating out of my chest. 

You know you’ve reached a low point in your life when crying doesn’t help. When crying makes you feel even more blind. And it makes things even worse.  

Taking a deep breath, I  lean my head back and try to sink into the uncomfortable airport seat. I think back to the events of the past week. Shuddering at the thought, I think to myself, “maybe I’ll just disappear all together.” I sigh to myself. That would be too easy.

“Good evening folks for Gate C10, nonstop to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is just to let you know that unfortunately we just got word that the plane taking you to Philadelphia has been delayed in arriving here.” Groans erupt all around me. 

“The original 8:00 p.m. boarding time has now been pushed back to 9:30 p.m. We apologize for this inconvenience, and thank you for flying with us!” The woman at the desk ends with an awkward smile, one that I couldn’t even try to fake right now if I wanted to. 

I rolled my eyes. 

All I want to do is get out of this place, hug my cat and curl up in bed. Was that so much to ask? Apparently it was, as two insanely hyperactive children came barreling towards me. At the last second, the smaller of the two children jumped into the seat next to me, and the older of the two carefully climbed into the seat next to it. 

A flustered looking man and an extremely stressed out woman walked up to me and apologized profusely for “their darling children startling me”. Did my face look that alarmed? 

I nodded awkwardly and put my earphones in each ear. Tucking my backpack under my arm next to me and my carry on bag under my feet, I closed my eyes and tried to relax.

My mind started to wonder about where things went wrong. The week had started out better than I could have even  hoped. What happened?

You may be wondering why I’m miserably sitting in an airport at 7:30 p.m. on a Friday night. And not just any Friday night, I’ll add. It was a Friday night during spring break of graduate school. 

Well, I’ll tell you. So sit down and fasten your seatbelts...we may hit some turbulence. 

With a loud CRACK he felt the bark behind him break. It all happened so fast, in the blink of an eye, that Alcon didn’t even have time to react.  With the bark behind him broken, he continued to fall backwards into the darkness, through what seemed like a tunnel in the earth.  After a few seconds, and with a thud, he fell onto his back on the floor of a cave. 

Dirt, leaves and snapped roots fell from the ceiling of the cave around him, with small pebbles falling to the floor next to him and on his chest. Trying to take a breath, he couldn’t do anything but lay there as he gathered his bearings. His head was throbbing. The combination of enough ale, and taking a tumble to what felt like the center of the earth was enough to send anyone’s head spinning.

 Finally, Alcon’s eyes adjusted to the darkness.  A faint light splashed over the walls around him. The faint dripping of water from the cave wall echoed quietly. 

The tree’s roots above, he realized, must have dislodged enough earth to create a tunnel-like opening into a cave that was below it. Trying to sit up, he felt a throbbing pain in his chest and fell back to the ground.

“You shouldn’t push yourself,” a timid voice called from the other side of the cave. “You had quite a fall and may have bruised a rib or two.” 

Startled, Alcon tried again to sit up and turned his head as he managed to prop himself up. Panting softly from the effort, he saw the source of the timid voice. Across the cave, next to a lantern with a small dancing flame, sat a young girl on a small rock. He squinted his eyes to try and get a better look at her but suddenly he began to feel lightheaded.  

With the residual effects of the ale, the possibly injured body and overall shock of the impact, everything was catching up to him. Quickly,  Alcon’s head hit the ground as he passed out on the cave floor. 

After what felt like an eternity, Alcon’s eyes opened. He blinked a few times, hoping to still his spinning head. Lifting a hand to his head, he noticed bandages on his arm.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I tried tending to the wounds you had on your arm,” a voice spoke softly.

That voice...that girl from earlier, Alcon remembered. She was sitting closer this time, unlike earlier when she had perched herself on a rock across the cave. Her lantern was sitting on the cave floor, along with a small pouch with flowers stitched onto it. 

“Where are we? Who are you?” he managed to stammer. His head was still fuzzy and he felt disoriented. 

“We’re in a cave. There is an entrance to the cave that opens on the side of the mountain we’re under. But you decided to create your own entrance from an old, fallen tree and the tunnel it created when it’s root system was dislodged.” The girl smiled hesitantly. 

“At first I was a little concerned,” she continued. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to try and rob me or even attack me. But when you passed out, I realized you probably wouldn’t give me trouble. At least not until you woke up.” She giggled. “And you’re still moving a little slowly, so I’m guessing I’m still safe for a little.”