Photo prompt © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
The water glistened.
Gloria shook. “I don’t think I remember how.”
“Just do it,” Jody said. “It’s like riding a bike. Your body never forgets.”
I never had a bike, Gloria thought, and there is much I worked hard to have my body forget. Especially since that day.
“It’ll come back to you,” Jody urged. Ordered, almost. “Dive right in!”
It was the edge in the trainer’s voice that did it, and what it brought back was not welcome.
“No.” Gloria pulled her swim cap off. “Not here. Not yet. Not today.”
For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers
Na'ama Yehuda 
Wow! We were soul sisters in writing this week!
Well done, you!!
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Ain’t that fun?!!
🙂
XOXO sis.
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‘Tis!!
🙂XOXO
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mimimalist and poweful
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Thank you, Neil! 🙂
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I wonder what thoughts were rekindled. Intriguing.
Keith’s Ramblings is but a click away!
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Whatever those are, they aren’t what she can/chooses to manage that day … or with that particular person/place. …
Thanks for commenting, Keith!
Off to read yours!
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We shared a muse this week. I almost had the sense that there was a line missing. Like “Not ever.” Nicely done.
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🙂 Ah, but perhaps it is not about a ‘not ever’ … but about ‘not this way’ (and not this trainer?) … I’m an eternal optimist, so I am thinking — she’s on her way, if only for reclaiming her voice and placing her boundaries … and the next step will be getting in the pool. On her terms. 🙂
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Oh I hope so. It is tough to find the right coach.
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May be hard, but hopefully not impossible! 🙂
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Great story! Amazing what can trigger things.
Cheers,
Ronda
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Thank you, Ronda! 🙂
Yes, all manner of (sometimes surprising) things can trigger stuff. Sometimes good memories. Sometimes not so.
Thanks for reading and commenting–hope you’ll stop by again.
Na’ama
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Just enough said to tell us what she remembered, and wanted to forget.
Sensitively portrayed.
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Thank you! 🙂
We may not really know all she had remembered, but perhaps enough to understand. I’m glad it came through!
🙂
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I did like that!
What was suggested set the imagination at full speed.
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🙂 Imagination at full speed is the BEST speed for imagination! 🙂
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Yep! 😃
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🙂
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Not till she’s ready. A wise choice, I’m glad she didn’t allow herself to be rushed.
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Me, too! 🙂
Healing ought to be given its time. Support and encouragement and opportunity, yes … but not rushed.
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Good for Gloria. It should be her choice, her time! Nicely done.
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Yep. Her choice. Her time. 🙂 Thank you!
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Physician, know thyself. Good story.
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🙂 Self-awareness is always a good thing. Not always an EASY thing, but a good thing. …
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Trainer should know when to be pushy. May be this is not the right time. There is some hidden trauma that Gloria and the writer has not told the trainer and readers.
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Indeed and you got it exactly! 🙂
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Na’ama Y’karah,
Apparently something traumatic has happened to her and this “trainer” had something to do with it. Simple story. Evocative and well written.
Shalom m’rushalayim,
Rochelle
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Yes, there is a lot untold yet in there …And whether the trainer is directly part of the trauma or reminds her of the trauma, it certainly hangs between them.
Thank you for the comment and for taking time to read in what is probably a busy time away. Enjoy yerushalayim… Xoxo Na’ama
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Wow. That’s the second one I’ve read this morning that hints at an ugly past experience. So sad, so tragic, and so life-changing. Well done.
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Thank you, Linda!
I’m wondering if something in the oily light on the water in the photo put some gloom into it, of these are just times when the ugly and tragic are a bit too close for too many, and the energies of the writings reflect it.
Thank you for this comment!
Na’ama
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I do think this photo was a bit gloomy–maybe atmospheric would be a better word 🙂
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Sure … euphemism or interpretation, in this case it really can be either one! 🙂
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Just the tone in the trainer’s voice was enough to spoil her moment. Such a subtle touch but true to life – the slightest thing is all it takes sometimes to trigger a trauma memory. Well drawn.
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Thank you, Margaret!
Yes, sometimes this is all it takes, isn’t it? Especially when we are already feeling vulnerable, or stretched beyond comfort, which is so often the case with trauma and recovering from trauma.
It is also true for how we must take care with children, who are so often inherently vulnerable and stretching beyond what they know to try something new, or to possibly fail again in something they are still learning … and how subtle our touch must be with them, too. To ensure we don’t mar their self-esteem or squelch their courage even as we encourage them to do new things.
Thank you for this comment!
Na’ama
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You’re welcome, Na’ama. Yes – we are fragile creatures.
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Fragile and strong, both. Yes.
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She might not ever jump in… it’s her choice…
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Indeed, and so it should be … though I hope that perhaps, in time, with the right person’s support, she will at least ease herself into the water. Thank you, Bjorn! 🙂
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