19 comments

Drama Fiction

Warning: language! I can edit out if needed!


“Can you get me a peach pill? And you might as well get me the white one too. Grab the nitro paste while you’re in there, I’m gonna need it,” Callum says, “Don’t know what this therapy is supposed to be about anyway.” He can already feel his blood pressure rising. Maybe he should also take an extra orange pill too, just in case? Why not, he’s already taken a whole rainbow this morning.


Blythe walks back into the kitchen with the pills, nitro paste and patches, and blood pressure cuff. “We tried it your way and all the therapist did was talk at us the whole time,” Blythe says. “I thought maybe we could try this way, just once and see how it goes? We don’t have to do it again if you don’t like it.” 


The cell phone comes to life on the table so she slides the screen to answer the call and presses the speaker button for them both to hear.


“Hello Callum and Blythe! I’m so glad you decided to join me for therapy today. Let me tell you a little bit about the process. Journal therapy involves writing exercises using prompts that will bring about awareness and improve your mental health. It is through intentional writing that you will be able to reflect and communicate better with one another physically, emotionally, spiritually, and healthily. Journal therapy will help me to help you reach your goals,” Dr. Sherman’s voice is loud and confident on the cell phone in the center of the kitchen table where it sits like an uninvited centerpiece. 


“The act of writing things down often relieves tension and can help to clarify what the issues truly are. As with all things in life, this is a process, and you need to trust this process. Each session will begin with a prompt. You both have 5-10 minutes to write freely and then we will be able to really dig in.


Since this is our first time meeting, let’s set the timer at five minutes and see how we do. Your first prompt is: top ten low points in your life. I’ll start the timer now.”


Blythe begins typing rapidly on her laptop, her fingers flying over her keyboard.


One: The car that my grandmother left me in her will, that I owned for approximately three weeks, I totaled in a snowstorm. Three weeks. My grandmother’s car. The car she left me. The car she treasured. The car that she and I had taken so many trips in to take her to her chemo treatments or for ice cream. We had so many memories in that car together. And I wrecked it within the first month.


Two: I once broke every bone in my head from the neck up. Yes. Every bone. Concussion, eye sockets, nose, jaw. Every bone. Was it painful? My face versus the dashboard of a car? Yes, it was quite painful. However, in looking at the broken bones and the totaled car and all that ensued, the biggest tragedy was that it put my career on hold for a year. I was a new graduate and the recovery period stole a whole year of my life. AND, I had totaled my Grandmother’s car AGAIN. This time it was gone and I wasn’t getting it back. I’d lost the one thing my Grandmother had left to me. She trusted me with her car and I couldn’t take care of it. She must have been watching over me though as I walked away from both accidents and no one else was seriously injured in either accident. 


Three: My Grandmother never met my husband. She was my person. She taught me how to sew. She taught me cross-stitching. Our tablecloth won a Blue Ribbon in the County Fair! She taught me how to make homemade noodles and pierogies. She tried to teach me how to speak Polish and how to roll my r’s. She loved to sit at her kitchen table and drink weak tea and make butter worms on saltine crackers with me. We would walk the perimeter of her house and she would teach me the names of all the colorful flowers she had planted. She put on a dress on the day she thought I was bringing him over to meet her. She was more likely to be wearing a pair of shorts and a sheen of sweat. Her hands loved to be working: in her vegetable gardens, flower gardens, cooking, or sewing. She sewed all of my Barbie Doll clothes! I was too scared she wouldn’t like him, so I stood her up. She died before his next visit. I regret this decision every day. Maybe this should be my number one tragedy? Are we supposed to go in order of importance here? 


Four: We lost a baby at Hershey Park. How do you lose a baby at Hershey Park? We were there on a family vacation with our children. We were expecting another child and then we were no longer expecting another child. I can’t even eat a Hershey bar anymore let alone think about Hershey Park.


Five: A person skips one mammogram and then all hell breaks loose. The doctors promised me that even if I had gone the year before, the cancer wouldn’t have been detected at that time anyway. I think they were just trying to make me feel better. Either way, the cancer was here and it needed to be removed. Now. So off with the boobs! And that was what was done. Lots of fun drugs and appointments and five years later, that tragedy is behind. 


Six: Falling down the basement stairs and breaking two bones in my leg (due to weakened bones from the cancer drugs) and now setting myself up for eight weeks of casting and months of physical therapy. I don’t have the sick time to be taking more days off from work. I need to save all of my sick days. I’m not sure this even counts as a low point. It’s a broken bone. I fell down the stairs. Big deal. People break bones all the time. I am embarrassed that I even wrote this down. 


Seven: ...You know, it’s not as easy as you think to come up with a list of low points as you might think. You should try it. You may discover you are left with more blessings than low points. For example, my husband has been deployed twice and came back in one piece to us. I’ve been a single parent for most of our married life due to the fact that he was in the Army and away a LOT, but we’ve done alright. Another blessing is that my children are healthy, wise, and wonderful. We lost a nephew to leukemia and another niece with multiple sclerosis, so we know there are scary things out there. We have been lucky enough to have healthy children. And, the tiny car accidents that they have had have all been minor so far, so that is excellent. Also, we have all traveled quite a bit and taken vacations and studied abroad. We are very fortunate. Our parents are alive and well. We are very much blessed. 


You are taught from a very young age that life begins with “Once upon a time…” there lived a prince and a princess and some fairy godmothers and some magic. Sprinkled in there will be some magic beans and probably a dark witch or evil tree but a sparkling unicorn slides over the rainbow to save the day. At the end everyone, now say it with me...lives HAPPILY EVER AFTER!  


Wake up and smell the green tea (you drink what you drink and I’ll drink what I drink). LIsten closely when I tell you this: you are living your happily ever after. Warts and all. When you realize you are sitting at the dinner table with your three children who are arguing over who set the table last and who has to clear the table and who has to rinse the dishes and put them into the dishwasher and then suddenly someone spills her glass of milk and it is in your husband’s lap and he starts swearing like a truck driver...and you catch your husband’s eyes as you hand him the dish towel to dry off his pants. In that moment you see the blue eyes you fell in love with, and the hint of a smirk and the glint in his eye as you both start to laugh at the chaos that is now your life. This is your happily ever after. Soak it up. As Frost would say, Nothing gold can stay. 


“That’s fuckin’ bullshit!” Callam says as he peers over her shoulder. “She threw that glass of milk at me when I told her that she had to do the dishes and you know it! Happily ever after BS my ass!”


She quickly closes the laptop. “We are supposed to be writing our own low points. You write it your way; I’ll write it my way.” Blythe hadn’t even heard him moving up behind her as she was so lost in her words and memories. She should have been more aware of where he was in the room.


Callum stares at his cursor blinking. The white screen sitting there mocking him, silently reminding him of the white snowstorm that took his freedom away three years ago. Low points? What kind of therapist asks their patients to talk about low points? Is Dr. Depression trying to lose patients or keep patients? He glances over at his wife who sits with her laptop closed. She hasn’t reopened it yet. She stares out the window, pointedly not looking at him. At least she didn’t start that bullshit crying routine. He starts to type using his one good finger, the thumb on his right hand. This might take a while.


My low point is that I am trapped. I am trapped inside my own body. I cannot move my legs or arms. I am trapped inside the house. I cannot open doors or windows. I cannot open a refrigerator or cupboard to feed myself. I cannot use the bathroom. I cannot stand up. I cannot shake your hand. I cannot drive. I can’t leave the house without assistance. I cannot drink without a straw. I cannot feed myself without a special fork. I cannot cut up my own food. I cannot pick up a sandwich. I cannot hold your hand. I can barely type. I cannot hold a glass. I cannot hold a remote control. I cannot hold a book or turn a page. I cannot brush my own teeth without assistance. I cannot shower or bathe myself. I cannot use the toilet by myself. I can’t pee standing up. I cannot transfer myself from wheelchair to bed. I lost my job. I am a human vegetable because of a slip and fall on a snowy driveway. How is that for a tragedy? I don’t think I need to list nine more. This is all bullshit. 


Callum stops typing. He can feel his blood pressure rising and needs to take a break. “I can’t deal with this right now.”


“Blythe? Callum?” the phone on the table startles the couple. Dr. Sherman says, “It sounds to me like we have a lot of work to do. Let’s get started…”





August 02, 2021 13:12

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19 comments

Daniel R. Hayes
05:24 Aug 06, 2021

Hi Amy! This one blew me away. With each new story you write you get better and better. Like all your stories, this one will stick with me for a few days. The writing was very well done, and the characters are so well done. It pulled me in right away, and I think this was brilliant. On a quick side note, I don't think you should compromise your creativity just because someone doesn't approve of a curse word. I know some people are sensitive to that and I respect that fact, but this is an artform and don't let those chains hold you down....

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Francis Daisy
02:42 Aug 07, 2021

Daniel, Hello! Thank you for the compliment. This was well-timed as I was beginning to question if I should even keep trying to write. Most days it's like stealing second base to find the time just to sit down at my computer let alone find the words. Thank you for the encouragement!

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Daniel R. Hayes
06:02 Aug 07, 2021

Hi there Amy :) I can honestly tell you that I think every writer questions whether or not to go on writing. In this crazy world we live in, I've noticed everyone is so busy doing things that it can be hard to find the time to keep writing. I believe that it's never too late to start anything, and that inspiration is all around us. We just have to open our eyes and pay attention. You're not alone in feeling this way. I honestly try to write in small spurts and it works for me. Keep writing because you have a talent and you need to share ...

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Francis Daisy
11:49 Aug 07, 2021

Hey there Daniel! You mean life isn't all about the shiny gold stars we collect? WHAT?!?! My first grade teacher LIED to me? A nun wouldn't lie to a six year old, would she? I am, of course, being totally sarcastic. However, we are all trained to want those gold stars. Thanks for reminding me that I don't need the likes in order to do what I LIKE to do. :) -A

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Daniel R. Hayes
15:55 Aug 07, 2021

Ha, ha! I love the sarcasm ;) I think your right that we all want those gold stars, but the one thing I've learned is that when it comes down to it: WE are those stars :)

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Francis Daisy
22:03 Aug 07, 2021

Gold star for you! (I haven't mastered icons on my Chromebook yet, so words will have to work for now). No sarcasm this time!

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02:30 Aug 12, 2021

Hi! I think this story suited the prompt very well! I really liked that last paragraph. Keep writing :D

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Francis Daisy
02:57 Aug 12, 2021

Thank you! :)A

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06:45 Aug 12, 2021

No problem! :)K

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00:04 Aug 10, 2021

I enjoyed how you presented Blythe and Callum's journals. Blythe's words perfectly portray her journey to believing that hope and love inevitably conquer sorrow, while Callum's bluntness exposes his anger at the randomness of the universe. Both characters have dramatically different outlooks, yet they love each other very much, and you portrayed them fantastically. Well done!

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Francis Daisy
02:22 Aug 10, 2021

Phoenix, Thank you for reading and commenting on my story. I am so happy to hear that the character's personalities came through by using their words and actions. This means so much to me! I keep writing and rewriting and deleting and writing some more, so eventually something has to turn out somewhere sometime! :)A

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Ruth Porritt
04:36 Aug 07, 2021

Hello Amy A, I really dig this story because I believe it. It rings true. This paragraph really pulled me into the story, and I wish I had written this: [“Can you get me a peach pill? And you might as well get me the white one too. Grab the nitro paste while you’re in there, I’m gonna need it,” Callum says, “Don’t know what this therapy is supposed to be about anyway.” He can already feel his blood pressure rising. Maybe he should also take an extra orange pill too, just in case? Why not, he’s already taken a whole rainbow this morning.]...

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Francis Daisy
11:45 Aug 07, 2021

Hey there Ruth P! Thank you for picking out a paragraph you loved and connected to! I had originally written that one with the names of the medications and then switched over the just using the colors as it seemed to be more "colorful" this way! :) I'm glad you liked this paragraph! You aren't the first one to encourage the swearing, so game on! My characters are often swearing at me inside my head and I have been smothering them for a long time now...this may not be pretty :) -A

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Ruth Porritt
04:36 Aug 08, 2021

Hello Amy A., Cool! :) I look forward to reading what you write next. Have a great weekend, Ruth

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Francis Daisy
12:15 Aug 08, 2021

Hello Ruth! I am very glad you enjoyed reading this piece. I'll be checking out yours next! :) Hopefully the birds are singing on your end of the earth also! -Amy

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Beverly Murtha
12:40 Aug 05, 2021

Amy, you are truly gifted in the way you allow the reader to move past the words right into the lives, thoughts, and feelings of your characters.

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Francis Daisy
15:14 Aug 05, 2021

Beverly, Thank you! Without your support and encouragement, I wouldn't have the courage to post a single comma. XO, A

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Scott Skinner
17:48 Aug 03, 2021

This was heavy! I think using the 'intentional' writing exercise as a way to surface Blythe & Callum's past was very clever. When reading Blythe's points, I thought, damn, her life has been pretty rough, and it seemed like it was going to keep going down that route, but then #7 came, and you flipped it. I liked how Blythe got to this point of, "you are living your happily ever after." There's a lot of truth in that. It reminds me of when people say, "These are the good old days." I liked how you waited until the end to reveal the character...

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Francis Daisy
23:32 Aug 03, 2021

Scott, Thank you for your feedback! I truly appreciate your help immensely! YES! That sentence: "...so she slides the screen and presses the button to open to hit speaker button for..." I think I have re-written it about seventeen times and I just can't get it to sound correct. I know what I am trying to say. The cell phone is in my hand. It rings, I slide the screen to answer the call and then touch the speaker button. That's how it happens in live action in my head, now to put it into words in my story. Help me! I will look at the other...

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