I Will Walk Again

Prompt: "The second chance: Write about how you earned one" This story was written in 40 minutes for Power of the Pen and remains unedited

Life doesn’t give second chances, I thought. LIfe has no sympathy for girls whose legs have been damaged beyond repair by the burning roof of their house collapsing on them. Life says, “Suck it up.” Life says, “Don’t whine.” Life says, “Be grateful it wasn’t worse.” But sometimes you can earn second chances, and I earned mine by refusing to submit to life. So life compromised, and life sent a sympathetic surgeon my way.

***

“Carli.” Dr. Amberman stepped into the room and bent down to shake my hand. He had to bend because I was in a wheelchair. He went through all the introduction formalities, and then he said, “We may have found a way to fix your legs.”

I’d known that, but I still gave a gasp of hope. “Do you really think so?”

“Oh yes,” he smiled. “We’ll be able to give you a second chance to walk. We’ll be able to get you back on your feet.”

I grinned.

“Tough little cookie, aren’t you?” he continued. I smiled again. Life had given me this chance because I was strong-willed and refused to settle for a cheat.

He returned my smile. “Your operation is next Thursday.”

***

On Thursday, February 29, I was wheeled into the operating room for my second chance. I was lain on the bed and pricked with a needle, and then I drifted into sleep, dreaming of everything that had happened…

… the flaming roof ignited with a blaze of gold and crashed through the air, whistling as it fell onto the girl sprinting away below …

… the same girl sat in the doctor’s office, sitting with her head held high, being told she’d never walk again. With a glint in her eyes, she declared, “Oh, but I will,” …

… the girl refused her mother’s help pushing her wheelchair. “It’s just until I can walk again,” she declared. Her mother tried to explain she was wheelchair-bound for life, but the girl didn’t listen …

… alone in her room, the child rose from her wheelchair, but her legs couldn’t support her and she fell. With her lower body throbbing, she vowed, “I will walk again.” …

… life looked on in astonishment as Carli refused to accept her fate. And so life decided to offer Carli another shot …

… I woke to the blurry faces of my parents and Dr. Amberman. “Carli,” they said. “How are you feeling?” Their voices overloaded my brain, still foggy from the operation.

As I became more alert, I remembered what the operation was for and I gasped. “Did it work?” I whispered, hardly daring to hope…

There were tears in my father’s eyes. “We think so,” he said, softly, gently.

Heart pounding, I slid off the bed, putting my weight on my legs. At first they buckled, unaccustomed to standing, but then they remembered their job and they held me, and my mouth fell open with glee as I looked around at my parents and the doctor. They reached out to embrace me and I laughed with exhilaration. I never expected another shot, but sometimes you do get second chances.

Thank you, life.

Reviews

[matrixmark]

I like the intro to this.
And what a good and uplifting piece it was too. I do like the lottle details which you have added - the foggyness of the brain, what went through his mind before the operation, tears of joy and finally exhilarating end to another well crafted piece.

Mark.