10OFFICATHON!
This is COMPLETE
A one shot that I am actually really proud of…
Minus the fact that it isn't very humorous... I know. Sorry.
So I hope you guys like it.
Let me know!
"Fifteen years ago, a wheelchair-bound woman with an incurable illness discovered she was pregnant." My mom said the day before I was leaving her for a whole summer. I scrunched up my nose, and pretended that I was a brat, and tried to act like my 'friends'. You know. We were teenagers. And we were too cool to like our parents.
"Who would have sex with a woman in a wheelchair?" I asked as if I were disgusted. My mom smiled and looked at me in a way that conveyed her thoughts. 'Stop acting like that.' I heard her soft voice speak to me. "Who would have sex with someone that had an incurable illness?" I asked more like myself. "According to you, sex is all about love. Wouldn't it hurt to love someone who was eventually going to die?" I asked becoming sad for whoever it was.
"A wonderful man would, that's who. And everyone you love is going to die someday, aren't they?" She asked with a sly smile on her face. "And not all incurable illnesses kill immediately, or really kill at all." She said in a different tone. I looked at her, but she still looked happy. I shook it off and continued asking questions.
"Well was that the whole story? I mean, a lady in a wheelchair that was sick got pregnant doesn't really have a beginning middle and end." I said sitting up in my bed.
"Well, the doctor's told her that she should have an abortion. Not because they didn't want the baby." She added when she saw the horrified look on my face. "It wasn't safe. Not for the baby, or for the woman. Sad isn't it?" she asked looking anything but sad.
"Well, that depends." I said yawning. "Did she have the abortion or not?" I asked scratching my head.
"Smart girl. You know what questions to ask before you answer something. That is a skill you need in High school." She said looking proud. "And no, she didn't have the abortion." She said standing up.
"Well, what happened? Did they die?" I asked somewhat interested. Truthfully, I hate going to bed, and this was slightly entertaining, so why not push it?
My mom smiled a knowing smile and shook her head. "Not yet. What happened was that this baby was the best thing the woman had known. Her illness started to treat itself, and she was soon able to walk again. Now she lives a somewhat normal life. She has to be checked a lot, but it's nothing she can't handle." My mom said shrugging. "The baby was a miracle, but more than that, it was her miracle." She said winking and shutting my door softly.
It was then that I considered when my mom might die. I had never thought of it before, for some reason. I later learned that most people don't think about death on a day to day basis. But I have an obsession with it.
I find myself drawn to the unknown. I study religion daily, but never stuck myself into one belief. I can't stand being stuck.
I read the obituaries every day. My parents don't know. They think I like the 'funnies' and the crosswords. Truth is I hate crosswords. I cheat. I wait until the next day for the town paper and copy the answers, and then the next week for the Seattle times to copy them too.
I always thought my Dad knew, but he never really made it obvious if he did.
I'm not someone who has an appearance that matches what I am telling you. I'm not a goth, or 'emo' 'scene' what have you. I'm just somewhat normal.
I smile constantly, and I have these giant blue eyes. Mom says that I have the most perfect lips in the world. That's the first thing she noticed about me when I was born. That and I had funny looking toes. But I grew out of those. I have light brown hair, and I wear whatever I think is cute that day. I don't limit myself to black, or pink, like many people think all teens do.
"What is the last thing you remember your dad talking about?" My mom asked sounding upset as she drove me to Cole's house. I looked at her with confusion on my face.
"Why?" I asked sounding restricted. I didn't like talking about my dad.
"Just tell me." She said, almost snapping at me. I looked at her in shock and told her about that day.
I was sitting in the passenger's seat and I was watching out the window as the rain soaked it.
"Do you understand teenage boys?" I asked him. He laughed and shook his head.
"You expect an old man like me to understand the men of your generation?" He asked softly. I sighed and crossed my arms. I heard his take an uncomfortable breath. "A good father will listen no matter what." He said, like he normally did. I laughed and turned to him.
"Andrew absolutely refuses to ask me out." I complained, knowing that my dad would try his best to understand.
"You want him to?" He asked sounding surprised.
"Yeah, you haven't noticed?" I asked smiling at his scared face.
"Straight men can't stay the night at our house." He said explaining it all. I burst into laughter.
"Andrew isn't gay. He is just my best friend. Either way, I thought he liked me, but he hasn't asked me out or anything." I complained.
"Well, all relationships ruin relationships." He said wisely. I looked at him.
"What did your relationship with mom ruin?" I asked curiously. He smiled.
"Not much." He said vaguely. I shook my head and looked back out the window, just in time to see a white figure jump into the road.
"Dad watch out!" I yelled. He swerved a little bit, but I didn't feel him hit anything .I sighed in relief and turned to look out the back windows.
"Well, it's good we didn't hit him. He gets to live another day" He said rubbing his left eye.
I saw him hopping across the street. I sighed in relief to him being near the sidewalk just in time for him to be hit by the car driving in the opposite way.
I held in a small whimper, and let my dad continue to think that the bunny lived. I'm not sure why I kept it from him… But I did.
"Well, I'm going to have Colette ask him why he is being stupid." I said trying to keep my voice steady. As often as I thought about death, I wasn't exactly comfortable with it.
"The boy isn't stupid. Fear inhibits intelligence." He said grinning at me.
"What do you mean?" I asked liking that phrase. He sighed.
"Maddie, your beauty outweighs his strength in ways he doesn't understand."
I looked at my dad and smiled.
"Then I woke up in the hospital." I said to my mom, refusing to look at her.
Watching my mother lean over my father's coffin to kiss him and tell him goodbye was the most painful moment of my entire life.
"He did always talk like that didn't he?" My mom said softly. I could hear the tears in her voice and
I took a deep breath to try and keep myself from joining her. She laughed for a second and continued. "You know how he proposed to me?" She asked. I mumbled a no and readjusted myself in the seat. "He said 'The hours I spend with you I look upon as sort of a perfumed garden, a dim twilight, and a fountain singing to it. You and you alone make me feel that I am alive. Other men it is said have seen angels, but I have seen thee and thou art enough'" She said turning down a long road.
"That was a quote by George Moore." I said confused. She nodded.
"I know. But it was the most magnificent thing I have ever heard." She said coughing. She had been doing that a lot.
"Well, that's sweet. If I hadn't known it was a quote, I would have figured it was something he said." I shrugged.
"Aren't you so excited?" She asked wiping her tears. I expected to see black run down her face, but there was nothing.
"Waterproof makeup?" I asked assuming she planned ahead. She just nodded. "Of course I'm excited. I've been waiting for this for a long time." I said pulling at my seatbelt.
I have never been comfortable in a car since the day my dad died. I have been especially uncomfortable since I have started wearing seatbelts.
The doctors said that the only reason I survived was because I didn't wear my seatbelt. Strange, I know, but because I wasn't wearing it, I flew through the broken windshield right before the semi collided with my side. If I were wearing a seatbelt, I would have died. Because I wasn't, I just had some deep lacerations and a broken arm. Scrapes and bruises don't count.
"Your father would have killed to be here today you know." My mom said sounding horribly sad.
"Mom, I know. But can we not talk about him right now? I just want to save my tears for later." I said flatly. My mom looked hurt for a minute, but then her face softened.
"Right, I'm sorry honey." She said finally turning into Colette's. I saw her run out of the house with a giant bag in one hand, and another bag in the next. Her chest bounced along with her flat black hair as she made her way to the car.
"Careful there, you might fall out." I yelled making her laugh. When she got to us, my mom popped the trunk and she threw her stuff in the back.
"Thanks again for the ride Mrs. Glove." She said climbing into her seat.
"No problem Cole, are you as excited as I am? Madeline won't be happy with me." She said making me shake my head.
"I'm more excited than anyone! Have you met his work buddies? I am getting a new boyfriend tonight!" She said making me laugh.
"Use tonight at a singles club huh?" I asked opening the sunroof and feeling the heat warm my hair.
"Well, I might as well make use of my new dress." She said shrugging.
"Anyway, I think that we should eat first." I said pointing at an IHOP.
"Really honey?" My mom asked. "I think that you would want to have a light meal, like a salad or something." She said seriously.
"Mom, I just want some hash browns." I said laughing. She shrugged and turned into the parking lot.
When we got in there, a cute guy took our orders and brought us hot chocolate immediately.
"Why did you order us all hot chocolate when it's 70 degrees out?" my mom asked confused. I shrugged.
"If you don't want it, I will drink it for you." I said happily. She looked shocked. "Mom, I'm not going to gain enough weight with one meal to ruin my dress. I promise that I won't overeat." I said annoyed. She just shrugged.
"Whatever. I just want to make sure you are comfortable." She said sounding guilty. I sighed and waited quietly while Cole entertained us.
"Here you guys are." The waiter said setting the plates in front of us.
"Thanks." I said quietly. He stopped walking away and turned back to us.
"Are you alright?" He asked. "I can get you a pancake with a smiley face on it if it will cheer you up." He said looking adorable with his goofy smile.
"No thanks." I said smiling and holding up my left hand, flashing the beautiful ring that I now wore there. He grinned and nodded as a small apology and then turned to the other two.
"Do either of you want anything else?" He asked sounding somewhat disappointed. They just grinned and shook their head.
"I told you that just wearing a ring there is protection." Cole said grinning.
"I would have never thought of it without you." I said joking.
"Exactly." She said thinking I was serious. I shook my head and continued eating.
When we left, I jumped in the car and pulled the mirror down, looking at my bare face. I rubbed at the barely noticeable circles around my eyes and pulled on my hair that was getting its natural highlights this summer.
"Honey, they will fix you up when we get there. Just be patient." My mom scolded, pushing the visor up. I crossed my arms and took a deep breath.
"Mads, why are you acting like a bratty teenager?" Cole asked making me roll my eyes.
"I'm freaking out!" I said, my volume just under what could be called yelling.
"Why?" she yelled back making me smile a little.
"I'm nervous." I said turning back to her. "I don't know what's going to happen after this." I said quietly.
She wiggled her eyebrows and I shook my head.
"That wasn't what you meant, I know." She said laughing. "You will figure it out. Just follow your gut." She said patting my hand. I sighed and unbuckled, literally climbing over the console to get in the back of the SUV.
"Madeline!" My mom scolded.
"What?" I asked still upset. She took a breath.
"Please don't do that stuff." She said trying to sound calm. I laughed to myself and then hugged Colette.
"I love you Cole." I said squeezing tight. She hugged back.
"I love you too. Remember, you are still required to hang out with me." She said making me pull back.
"Do you think I wouldn't?" I asked sad. She looked a little upset and shrugged.
"I'm not sure. This has never happened before." She said making me shake my head vehemently.
"I will always be there for you and you for me. You know that. We have gone too far to let a friendship go."
'relationships ruin relationships' I heard my dad's voice, but I just pulled Cole's body to mine again, trying not to cry.
"Everyone needs to get out now!" Marilee called making me turn to her confused. "Everyone but the bride and maid of honor!" She said shooing a lot of the guests out of the room.
"I've waited for this for too long." I said shaking my head and smiling at the wedding planner.
"I couldn't imagine. Four years of not being able to be with your boyfriend. That doesn't count the two years before he finally proposed, and then the year before you got married. How old are you now?" Cole said. "Forty?" She asked jokingly walking over to us.
"Ha ha." I said sarcastically shaking my head.
Truth is, I was old. Not in the larger picture, but I always wanted to get married at twenty, not twenty four. I was just happy to be getting married at all though.
"Anyway, the photographers need you to get in your dress now, and walk out to the field to get some pictures of you two, and then the flower girl, then after the ceremony, you and the rest of the group." Marilee said pushing her Bluetooth back in her ear and walking off. I smiled and walked over to where my dress was sitting.
"You look gorgeous, and that dress is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen you in." Cole said when I put it on.
I looked at it in the mirror and admired it.
It had a folded look to the fabric from my hips up. White flowers trailed diagonally from my right underarm to my left elbow and around the back to the corset lacing. Then the flowers went diagonally from my left hip to about 6 inches lower on my right hip. Then, the bottom had diagonal ruffles, all the way to my feet.
I turned to look at my back, and saw the back ruffles fall onto the floor in a chapel train.
It was the most entrancing dress I could ever even imagine.
"Wow." I heard a new voice. I turned to see Antonio, the photographer. I smiled.
"You like the dress?" I asked ecstatic. He nodded, almost entranced too.
After Cole fake coughed a few times, he got it and shook his head.
"I guess we need to get out there and take some pictures." He said opening the door and looking around, making sure nobody could see me. We walked out, and I picked up my dress so it wouldn't drag in the dirt.
After taking pictures, he told me that I could hide behind the bush closest to the building and spy on 'the groom'.
And I did. With Cole of course.
"for someone who is so macho, he is marrying someone pretty sweet." Cole said as we watched my man, not dressed up at all, stand there in jeans and a white t-shirt, getting his pictures taken. He flexed for Antonio, and I could see him rolling his eyes as he was snapping pictures. The guys were all doing the same kind of thing. Roughing around. I even heard a few 'that's what she said's and 'yo momma's.
Psh. Guys.
"Jesus." I heard a barely there whisper from Cole when Jared literally ripped his t-shirt off. I had to laugh silently, but I was cracking up on the inside.
That was so Jared. He then did that stupid little dance with his pecks.
"I will introduce you to him later tonight." I whispered to her.
"You better." She said standing up and walking back inside. I followed her lead and walked back too.
"So you think that playing football, and baseball, and wrestling, and whatever else he played helped him in his personality at all? I doubt it." I heard a whisper from one of the bridesmaids.
"Carmen." I whispered.
"Yeah?" She asked loudly turning around while we were in line.
"I can hear you." I said, getting a laugh from my uncle next to me.
When they started walking ahead of me I took a breath.
"You alright?" Nathan asked me. I grabbed his hand and nodded.
"I am. I'm nervous. But I'm ready." I said smiling. He leaned over to my ear.
"Your father would have been so proud of you." He whispered. I smiled peacefully, knowing that it's true.
When I stepped around the corner, I saw the guests standing first. They all had huge smiles on their faces. I grinned at them, and felt my heartbeat speed up as I looked down the line of groomsmen, and then Andrew. All of them in their dress blues.
I got up to him slowly, and it felt right every step. I studied his face that was covered in happiness. His hazel eyes beamed down at me, and his teeth showed in a smile that was almost too wide.
When it got time for him to say something, he took a breath.
"No matter what happens, I'll always be with you. Forever." He said. I accidentally laughed. The crowd let out a small chuckle.
"Pocahontas?" I asked happily. It was always one of my favorite Disney movies. He looked a little embarrassed, but nodded.
"It seemed to fit." He whispered. I nodded at him to go on and he did.
When it was time for me to talk, I cleared my throat.
"One time, a little over seven years ago, I told my dad that I was going to have Colette ask you why you were so stupid." I said smiling. Everyone around laughed at it, and Andrew just looked confused, and kind of worried.
"He said that you weren't stupid. He thought you were gay at first, but he didn't think you were stupid." I said getting another laugh. "But he told me, that fear inhibits intelligence. Relationships ruin relationships, and that my beauty outweighs your strength in more ways than you could understand." I said taking a deep breath. Andrew was watching me intently. "That was the last thing that I heard him say. I always figured that he was lying to make a 16 year old girl feel better about herself." I said smiling, and finding it extremely easy to fight the tears.
"Mads," I heard Andrew whisper quiet enough that it wasn't noticed by anyone but me. I looked up at him, and his eyes asked if I was alright. I nodded sneakily and continued.
"My mom and dad had the most real love that I ever knew. They loved each other so much, they could barely comprehend any negative emotion unless there was something harming each other, or myself." I said looking at my mom. She was crying steadily. I smiled at her, and turned back to my Marine. "They taught me how to love. And you taught me how to be in love."
With that, and a few 'I do's, we were Mr. and Mrs. Larson.
When I was pregnant with my first baby, I took my mom with us to the doctors.
"Do you remember when I told you about the woman in the wheelchair?" She asked quietly. I looked at her and nodded. She smiled.
"You were my miracle, and now you are going to have your own."
Help me out by writing reviews... please…
~Chelsey
Here is the challenge
Challenge 21:
Genre: Romance, Humor
Rating: any
Things Wanted: This will take a bit of work. But go to (1), (2) , and (3) . Pick one scenario from the FIRST page on each of these sites and incorporate it into your story. Be sure to include the sentences at the end of the prompt for reference.
Things NOT Wanted: references to either work or school, Break-up scenes, People who use to hate each other and then fall madly in love.
Quotes: One person (can be major or minor) who speaks almost entirely in proverbs, Something akin to: "It's not facebook stalking if you're friends." One quote from any Disney movie, must be said by a guy who's considered "macho" and somebody must call him out on the fact that he's quoting a Disney movie
(GMH) 15 years ago, a wheelchair-bound woman with an incurable illness discovered she was pregnant.
The doctors warned her of the risks she had not only for herself, but for the baby if she did not have an abortion.
Thank you, mom, for taking that giant leap of faith, I love you. You GMH.
(FML) Today, my dad and I were in the car when a rabbit scurried across the road, just missing us. My dad turned and said to me, "Well, it's good we didn't hit him. He gets to live another day." I then looked in the rear view mirror to see the rabbit running away from the cross traffic, only to be hit by the car behind us. FML
(Onesentence) Watching my mother lean over my father's coffin to kiss him and tell him goodbye was the most painful moment of my entire life.