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EXISTENCE

The Light and Dark of Truth - Part IV

By Rebecca A Hyde GonzalesPublished 12 months ago Updated 12 months ago 5 min read
1
EXISTENCE
Photo by Vijendra Singh on Unsplash

Continued from Part III

[ASCENDING TONES]

"Hello?"

"Hi, Babe. How's it going?"

"I just got out of the shoer."

"Is your doctor's appointment today?"

"Yes."

"would you like me to conference in?"

"You can if you like."

"I will join the call. Hey, when the kids get in tonight, do you want to go to dinner?"

"Let's see how I am feeling when you get home."

"Okay. Sounds good. I will see you at your doctor's appointment."

"Bye."

"I love you."

"Love you, too."

"Bye."

Anna took another look in the mirror, wiping away tears, and then stepped into the scanner. Detecting her presence, it began to hum and emit different colors of light. After a couple of minutes, the scan was complete. The advancements in whole-body scans remained surprising to Anna. She used to be a peripheral vascular technician at the county hospital. That was years before she even met her husband. At the time ultrasound machines only took black-and-white images of the veins and arteries. These images had to be processed just like the films from X-ray machines. Now, it seemed that everything was in color and in 3D. The most remarkable thing about these new body scanners was their ability to do the work of both an MRI and a CT.

Scan complete. Anna stepped out. Scan sent.

Anna reached into the basket on the wall, retrieved clean underwear, and began to dress. As each foot was inserted into the legs of her black slacks she could feel the snug magnetic support growing from her ankles to her waist. It was like putting on gloves. The slacks were designed to support her broken body and to relieve pain at the injury sites. They would also make it possible for her to walk if she went outside. The same sensations occurred as she inserted her hands into the sleeves of her blouse. She would remain upright. The clothes gave Anna some semblance of normalcy and made it possible for her to avoid pitying gazes, when in public. No one would ever know how badly broken she was. Her clothes; were a camouflage of the truth.

Truth. She had spent so much time denying the truth. Even her writing was a mask for what was really going on. her stories were just a shadow of reality - a reality that had been dressed up and made palatable. What she really wanted to do was to scream at the top of her lungs and tell the entire world that things were horrible. Human beings were selfish and deceitful. She was held together by magnets. She was a sleeping volcano that could erupt into a million fragments. She was a fault buried beneath the earth's crust. One slight movement and the quake would open a cavern to its molten core.

[BING]

Incoming video call from Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, the III.

"Hello, Pelman."

"Anna, what is wrong with you? You promised me more than a half-assed start..."

"How about we start with Good Morning, before we start the ritual tantrums?"

"Good Morning."

"Alright then. Pel, I am sorry."

"Sorry?!?"

"I know. My heart hasn't been in it lately."

"Well, you better get it back in it."

"Pel, this really isn't a good time. Can I call you later?"

"Anna, you need to make time."

"Pel, I really can't right now. I have a doctor's appointment in a few minutes."

"Sure. I know things have been rough. But your fans... I'm sorry Anna... Call me later."

"I will. I promise."

Looking down at her toes, Anna smiled again. So pretty. Rumbling began in the pit of her stomach I should probably eat, she thought.

"Alexa, what is on the menu today?"

[BING]

Scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, and an everything bagel with cream cheese and avocado slices.

"Thank you, Alexa."

[BING]

Breakfast will be on the table in five minutes.

Anna, now in the living room, decided that she had some time to take care of a few things and replayed the messages from earlier.

"Alexa, please send a message to Lorina asking her what she would like for dinner tonight."

[BING]

Complete.

"Alexa, thank you. Will you please send instructions to Syn Valet to pick Marcus up from the airport at 2:00 p.m. and to use the red Chrysler Transport?"

[BING]

Complete.

Anna turned on her computer and began scrolling through messages, stopping at one from her baby sister, Elaina. She stared at the subject line: Family Reunion: July 15 - July 18. Anna got up and walked away.

July the Year Before

Anna slowly climbed the stairs to the third floor and then turned left into the doorway she looked in on her father sitting on the edge of the bed looking out the window. The large window was like a frame around an oil painting of a lush beautifully manicured garden. Her father could no longer tend to the fruit trees, roses bushes, and pond. She could feel his longing to be out there and a tear slid down her cheek.

She watched as her mother walked over from the closet with a fresh neatly pressed shirt and slacks. Her mother smiled at her, beckoning her to close the door. Anna closed the door and then sat down at the top of the landing. She leaned over her knees stretching out her hand to pet Miss Kitty, who had been sitting on the lower step.

A couple of minutes later the bedroom door opened and Anna was invited in to sit with her father, who was now leaning up against the headboard. He had his reading glasses on and several sheets of paper. As she came closer she could see that it was a few more pages of his allegory. The story that he had begun when he was diagnosed with cancer just six months earlier.

He had been sending her copies of each new chapter. When she would receive them in her inbox, she would print them off and read them and then place them in the folder she had labeled "Dad's Farewell."

She was visiting her parents again for the sixth time since his diagnosis. But this time, her children and her husband joined her. The entire family was coming to celebrate his 79th birthday. And as a gift to their father, each sibling and their family took a section of the garden to tend.

PART V

Short StoryFantasyfamily
1

About the Creator

Rebecca A Hyde Gonzales

I started writing when I was about eight years old. I love to read and I also love to create. As a writer and an artist, I want to share the things that I have learned and experienced. Genres: Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and history.

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