Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: A MIGHTY FORTRESS (don't write about the song) (04/23/15)
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TITLE: Of Rubber Bands and Jitterbugging | Previous Challenge Entry
By Tisha Martin
04/27/15 -
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“Hey, what are we waiting for?” Gloria O’Reilly called.
She trembled as she held onto the parallel bars, her legs shaking inside the braces, each one weighing twenty pounds of metal, buckles, and leather. She leaned heavily on her left foot and struggled to move her right leg. “I can’t.”
“Keep trying.”
Her weaker left knee twinged.
“You’ve got to swing those hips if you want to get anywhere.”
Tightening her sweaty grip on the bars, she leaned to the left and engaged her right hip. The leg inched. She stared at the pigeon-toed angle of her therapeutic shoes. “I did it.”
“Yes, that was great! Let’s see if you can do some more.”
Laurie slid her hands along the bars and leaned to the right. Her right leg wobbled; she gripped the bars. Squeezing her seat muscles, she forced her lift hip forward.
Her fingers slipped, and the weight of her legs pushed her forward. Even though her arms hadn’t been affected by the paralysis of polio, they seemed weak and unable to help maintain balance. She clattered on the linoleum floor.
Gloria and her assistant helped Laurie to the therapy table. They unstrapped her braces and examined her legs for injuries. “You’re unharmed,” she announced, her short curls bouncing.
“I’ve got dents in my legs for sure.”
Both therapists laughed.
“This needs repaired.” The assistant held up the left brace.
Laurie’s heart plummeted. The outside bar had broken in half at the ankle.
Gloria said, “Take heart. Patience goes a long way.” She and the assistant helped Laurie into her chair.
Laurie rolled into the elevator, discouraged by the reality of not being able to walk for weeks.
The elevator doors opened as nurses rushed toward the children’s ward. She wondered who had committed the catastrophe.
Probably Robert, she thought. Her ward mate could be cantankerous at times.
Laurie continued down the hall and through the large entryway that led to the ward. She rolled past a small army of high-backed wooden wheelchairs before stopping at her bed, neatly made with snowy blankets.
“Are you okay?” her ward mate, Robert, asked, playing with a rubber band.
“I fell and my brace broke. I don’t think it’ll be ready for weeks.” After a nurse helped her into bed, she stared at the ceiling.
“Lumpy’s coming!” Robert whispered loudly, throwing his rubber band into the nightstand drawer.
“Think she’ll turn on the radio?” Helen, a paraplegic, asked. Her rocking bed dipped down and up, bringing airflow into her paralyzed lungs.
“I don’t think we did anything terribly wrong today.” Robert cast Laurie a mischievous glance.
She offered him a blank stare.
Silence engulfed the room as the night nurse barged through the double doors. Lumpy switched on the radio. Big Band music penetrated the walls of the small ward. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”
Robert mimicked her as she left; Helen and Stuart giggled.
Thoughts of tormenting Lumpy disappeared when he called, “Jitterbug! Laurie, you’ve got the first act.”
Laurie didn’t feel like jitterbugging, even though it was her favorite time of day when they’d dance with parts of their bodies unparalyzed by polio.
She half-heartedly moved her eyeballs from left to right.
Tommy Dorsey’s band rose. Noses twitched and mouths twisted.
Robert poked his chin toward the ceiling, wrinkling his forehead. “Fingers if you’re able!”
Fingers bounced between folds of white sheets.
I can already move my fingers. My legs, too. Laurie pushed her face into her pillow when Robert flung a rubber band. It snapped against a metal bedpost and landed in the aisle.
“Hey, quit attacking my fortress!” Stuart warned. “You’ve been doing that all day. Give me some so I can at least fight back.”
Robert glanced inside the drawer. “That’s the last one.”
“Will you pipe down?” Laurie threw Nancy Drew at Robert.
He rubbed his arm. “Ease up, or we’ll have to send you to the Army with Lumpy.”
Stuart and Helen roared.
Lumpy appeared. “What is all the commotion about?”
“We’re just having fun,” Robert said.
“Time for bed.” The music died. She stomped out.
Laurie pulled the sheets over her head and muffled a sob.
“I’m sure they’ll fix it soon,” Robert whispered.
She yanked back the covers and stared at him. Even though he annoyed her, she realized that he’d been a mighty fortress, comforting her through her despair.
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