Emily reached her fingers out to touch the glowing snowflakes. Frosty pine-scented breezes blew in from the forest. She giggled, her brown eyes lighting up, as she watched squirrels scurry up trees and bright red cardinals land on snow-covered branches. The sun grinned then dropped. The moon danced into the sky. Stars settled in her hair. She laughed and took off running along the ground, bare feet landing with soft thuds on plush, purple carpet.
“She’s no better,” Emily’s mother studied her little girl crouched in the corner. “You promised…”
“I said we would try,” the doctor corrected.
“Please. Bring her back to me.”
The doctor stared at the tiled floor, “Emily has been here for three months, Mrs. Stevens.”
“Exactly! Enough! Get her back here from…wherever she is.”
“She’s stable.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Her vitals are good…”
“I don’t give a damn! She belongs at home! With me.”
“I appreciate what you’re going through.”
“You don’t!”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Stevens.” The doctor reached for a tissue box.
“I hate this. I don’t understand any of it. I don’t know if Emily’s in pain…” She grabbed some tissues. “Do you even know where she is? If she can hear us?”
“We haven’t been able to reach her. There’s nothing wrong with her hearing, physically, but I can’t be certain what she’s processing. I think,” he glanced at Emily, “she can sense when you’re here.”
“Sense me? She’s my daughter. Is that all I get? Can’t I go to her? Tell her to come back?”
The doctor hesitated, “Mrs. Stevens.” He cleared his throat, “I’m not sure she wants to come back.”
They looked over at the little girl in the hospital gown.
Emily’s hand twitched. She grimaced with something resembling a smile, staring with dead eyes at the twirling snowflakes and playful squirrels.
#Blogbattle is a weekly writing prompt for flash/short stories hosted by Rachael Ritchey
Read more stories and vote for your favorite here.
Week 30 Prompt: Reach
Genre: Drama
Pingback: #BlogBattle Week 30 “Reach” Entries & Voting | Rachael Ritchey
Wow – thought provoking and the ending was powerful. Nicely done
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Thanks. There were so many ways to go with the “reach” prompt. I almost wrote a Western. Maybe next time… 😉
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Oooooh a Western, would love to write one of those.
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I don’t know if I could… Ah, but that’s the challenge, isn’t it?
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Yep! I look forward to a Western challenge 🙂
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Was sad, but honestly I wouldn’t want to come back either, her inner place sounded amazing.
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Thank you. And I’m so happy her inner world sounded amazing. I hoped it would. Depending on what brought her there, I’m not sure I’d want to come back, either.
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That was a really touching tale of two halves. The thing is you can relate to Emily, like being a dream you never want to wake from. Nicely done.
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Thanks. I guess we can relate on some level. That does happen sometimes, doesn’t it? I love your “tale of two halves”. Brilliant.
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I think tales are often tales of two hales or sides. The struggle of good and evil is often one based on perspective.
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Very true.
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A heart-wrenching story. The way you described what Emily is seeing is beautiful. She has escaped this world into one of wonder.
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Oh, thanks. It is sad but I’m glad her world seemed beautiful. That’s what I was going for but wasn’t sure…
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I definitely thought it was beautiful. 🙂
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Thank you. ❤
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Oh that is such a sad and scary story, Sarah. The photo is beautiful and so apt for the story. I feel the mother’s pain. It is such a tragic situation to lose someone who is physically present. At least Emily is “happy” where she is.
This is very different from what I expected when I saw your title. I thought it was going to be about readers. “See Nip. Nip can run. See Nip run. Nip can play. See Nip play.” They are tragic in their own way. They would make anyone retreat inside. 🙂
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Thanks so much, Norah. ❤ The tragedy of "losing" someone when they are right there is heartbreaking. Right, though. Emily is happy where she is. Who knows what's waiting for her here.
Hadn't thought of that regarding the title. I should have known you'd immediately see that. Too funny. Readers…
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Haha Norah’s comment cracked me up at the end there. 🙂 Readers are tragic. hehehehe Dick & Jane *sigh*
Touching and sad, Sarah. Well done! I agree with what everyone has already said. 🙂
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Yes. The Tragedy of Readers. That’s a great title. Mine was shamelessly stolen from one of my favorite bands of all time ever — Pink Floyd.
So, thank you. I’m happy you liked it and am glad I got a chance to write for the challenge this week. Fantastic prompt word.
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🙂 Pink Floyd, huh? 🙂 nice 🙂 Fantastic use of the word! 🙂
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Thanks. I don’t know if you noticed but it seems you’re having a smiley attack — do you need some coffee? *wink* (So I don’t use a winky face, you know?)
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🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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I understand the mother’s missing her little girl, or wanting her to be ‘normal’, but Emily is happy at not hurting. Wonderful story. Makes me think we much accept people for what they are–her Emily.
I wonder too, what happened. Did Emily want to escape for a reason? Fascinating story. ❤ ❤
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Thanks so much. ❤ I don't know what I'd do as a mother. Not sure I could handle it. Maybe, with time… It depends on why Emily is where she is. I know she's there for a reason, yes, I just don't know what it is. I'll think about that and possibly expand upon the story (though I can't imagine it being anything good).
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Quite a sad story. Emily is definitely out of everyone’s reach.
On a different note, I’m quite fond of Pink Floyd myself. My favorite song is “The Machine.”
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Ah, Wish You Were Here is a fantastic album. So Welcome…to the Machine. I don’t think I could choose a favorite song under penalty of death. Okay, maybe then. But not before.
Thank you. Yes, Emily is far from anyone’s reach. That could be a very good or very bad thing…depending. ❤
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aaaawe I never thought I would use beautiful and sad in same sentence one after the other.
great story ^_^ just….. don’t wake Me up lemme sleep to dream
~B
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Thanks, Beaton. You’re always so poetic in your comments. Don’t wake me… Let me sleep to dream. ❤
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^_^ pleasure
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Her world sounds so beautiful the way you described it! I can’t blame her for wanting to stay there. I’m curious what condition it is she has, and if it recently happened in her life. So much mystery and tragedy here, I loved every bit of it!
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Thank you. I’m so glad you loved it. ❤ Mystery and tragedy…yes. That. Also, thrilled that you found her world so beautiful. It's really what I was trying for here. Since she's so young, I'm pretty sure it's fairly recent but I don’t know exactly what happened to her…yet.
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Sarah! It just dawned on me that I didn’t notify you or update the pages! YOU WON! CONGRATS!!!!! 😀 Want to do another interview? Email me if you do! 🙂
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Ack! 😀 Thank you! That’s awesome. So many amazing entries this week, too. Thanks, all! ❤
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🙂
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I’m really thrilled. 🙂 Thanks, again, Rachael.
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You are very welcome. 🙂 It’s all you! 🙂
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