Photo prompt © Jean L. Hays
She spent the day swimming, buoyed by the swell and fall of waves, kissed by the spray of salt, caressed by playful bursts of wind as silvery bodies and slick flippers dipped and slid and spun beside her.
The sun warmed the top of her head, then the tip of her nose and the crests of her knees as she turned to rest and float and face it.
It was like living in a dream.
And it was. A dream.
The stained glass in the open door a portal to what was. The ventilator sighed. She could no longer swim.
For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers
Beautifully described. With a very sad and poignant ending Well done.
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Thank you, Sandra. There are those whose dreams need to be more vivid than life. At least for some of the time.
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One day, maybe, With the right gene technology
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YES! One can dream!
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Great downbeat twist at the end. Well written.
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Thank you, Iain!
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The ending threw a whole different light on the story. A very timely reminder that all who have died were not just numbers, but people with dreams.
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And .. that there are many ways people end up on a ventilator or with limited abilities … and that many have had to find ways to make do, in body or in spirit or in both.
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This is sadly very true.
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Here’s to hope and dreams.
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Ouch.
Lovely story with a kick-in-the-teeth ending
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Thanks ceayr … sometimes the mind offers a good escape.
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God is merciful in giving us memories and dreams, as they anchor us to this world. Without them….
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Here’s to memories and dreams, wherever one believes they come from, they are certainly a power beyond … 🙂
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🙂
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🙂
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i assume she has died. may she rest in peace.
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I guess it is not a far assumption, given how many who are on a ventilator do not usually remain alive for long. If she did die, perhaps she did so while dreaming about swimming, and it was to her like going home. … Beautiful comment, yours!
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The ventilator sighed… I think too many have seen the ventilator these days. Hopefully a lot of them will swim again… Sad story, but well done.
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Thank you, Trent. Ventilators sigh a lot, in my experience. There is that breath and heft and stop and sigh and hiss and breath and heft and stop and sigh … The pace of it can become meditative or grating in equal measure … depending on how one is that day, patient or caregiver or clinician or observer.
Yes, too many had seen the ventilators of late, and many had before these times, as well. Some of them for years on end. May more swim again than not …
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Na’ama Y’karah,
Such lovely dream, brilliantly described. You had me swimming with the dolphins, enjoying each dip and swoop. The reality of the hiss and stop of the ventilator was a sucker punch to the gut. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
PS I’m a little slow getting around FF today as I’m caught between writing a novel and reading a skillfully written one. At present I’m listening in as Laurie tells KayAnne her story. 😉
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Ah! Thank you! For the comment (I knew you’d understand the swimming piece all too well!) and for the PS. Especially for the PS. Because … yeah…. mwah!!!
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Sad. Great imagery.
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Thank you, Trish.
Yes, it is always so sad to have lost abilities one had, and I can only imagine how sad it has to be to be bound to a ventilator, and the other profound losses it implies.
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Oh you weaver of wonderful tales. Beautifully described with that kick in the teeth in the end. Some riduculously good stuff.
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Thank you, dear Dale! I was wondering how someone uses the door when this large beautiful stained glass is hanging in the doorway, and then I thought … it might be that this someone is not really using the door very much … and then I wondered why …
Thank you for this lovely praise! hugs! Na’ama
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Lovely, lovely, lovely.
I am not playing this week…
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Is okay! Playing is not mandatory! 🙂 Or it would become work … which we don’t want to make this into!
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This is true…
And it was feeling like that.
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So I’m glad you are taking a break! This is meant to be fun, not a chore! 🙂
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It’s not a break per se… just a break from all-prompt writing (writing a post about is as we “speak”)
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Thar you go! You do you and that’s the best way to be you in any given day of you! 🙂
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You are so sweet!
xoxo
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Thank you … I do mean it, though. It is good to assess where one is and what one wants to do the same way or not and when. There are as many ways to be and write and blog as there are people and writers and bloggers. I’m really glad you are following what feels right to you for now. And any now. 🙂 xx
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Thank, my friend. It’s not a good sign when you look at the inLinkz and think… ah f*** that many left to read?
xoxo
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Yeah, I hope no one who reads my posts feels like they need to, if they don’t want to at that moment. I’d rather they only read if they wish to and not feel forced in any way, shape, or form. Because that just ain’t fun, and the whole idea is to enjoy the blogging and the reading, IMO. Granted, some give-and-take is delightful, but again, only if it is fun to do. No martyrs needed (and anyway, one must die to become a martyr, so I recommend taking it off the bucket list … ;))
xoxo
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I agree. I don’t follow everyone who follows me and I don’t expect the reverse, either. I love the exchanges created in this blogging world and as we know, it has created some friendships.
Oh gosh. I’d hate for anyone to feel obliged to read me! And haha to the martyrdom!
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Yeah, mutual respect and friendship and curiosity are all fabtabulous and I think make this such a lovely community. Obligation and a sense of heaviness about what ‘should’ be read or keeping tabs of who reads what of whom and how many times??? Not so much. Not for me.
Yeah, I’m from the NMFMS (No Martyrdom For Me Society) 😉 Membership is free. (Being nutty is a bonus).
Your NYNF
PS saw you posted — me off to read it. NOT obligated, just mighty curiousita!
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Absolutely fabtabulous. Obligation and a sense of heaviness not desired nor welcomed. I really don’t keep tabs on who reads me in general. I do, however, keep tabs on the participants of prompts who write and run and don’t acknowledge the comment I left them. So I stop. I feel much better and that I’ve wasted less time, thanks to them.
I want in NMFMS and happen to be nutty so… where do I sign up?
You did.. Well.. um… enjoy… considering it’s about what we’ve exchanged here!
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🙂 I did indeed! I’ve signed you up for NMFMS … It comes with no obligations, so … yay! Welcome aboard. Nuttiness encouraged. 🙂
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Woot!!
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I’m thinking, written by someone who enjoys the same
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🙂 Me love ocean, yeah! 🙂
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It shows
Our ocean is too cold. Our is guaranteed hyperthermia
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Yeah, I am at the other side of the same ocean … and even if the latitude is a bit different, the Atlantic is still cold around here … at least most of the year … 😉
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Try the North Sea… as I did (unexpectedly) recently
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Nope. North Sea sounds … um … Arcticky … 😉
(Unexpectedly????)
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Current comes straight down from the Arctic.
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Brrrrr
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It takes a strong contitution to brave that, at least, beyond the sun-warmed shallows
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I do the blue-toes challenge. If they blue, I’d paid my dues … 😉
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Well yesterday, being exceptionally hot, there were folks braving the blue… but only the very shallows
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Yeah, don’t want to get eaten by sea monsters or something … 😉
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Kraken.
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Yeah, that Kraken’s gets cracking and you’re toast … 😉
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🙂
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But then it’s not a deep sea, so by late summer it does warm… a little
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Yeah? Well, hmm … Arcticky with slight warming … 😉
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The mind is a powerful entity. I’m very fond of mind travel, it can be vivid. Great use of language!
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Thank you! Yes, the mind is amazing!!! 🙂
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At least she has happy memories to occupy her mind in her final hours. A poignant piece indeed.
Here’s mine!
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Thank you, Keith! Yes, for her final hours or days or weeks or … and, yes, may she swim in dreams and joy. Sometimes that is the best solution.
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Dreams do come true if you believe in them. All she has to do is keep the trust. Very well-described and poignant!
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Thank you! And indeed, dreams may come true – not always in the way we’d hope, or thought we needed, but …. still, if we keep our hearts open and our soul receptive, we may find that there are ways to fulfill our dreams that we may not have thought of before …
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Very true Na’ama 🙂
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That story is so poetically told. I enjoyed it. Well done, Na’ama.
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Thank you, Bill! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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Oh no, such a sad ending to a tale of freedom and joy.
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Indeed … though at least she can spend her time in dream … Thank you for reading and commenting!
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Beautifully penned story.
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Thank you!
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A beautiful story, joyous and incredibly sad at the same time.
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Thank you, Linda. Like much of life, in differing variations, hopefully not quite so profound in the sad-department …
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It did not expect the ending. You now have me thinking about dreams.
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Ah, dreams, Michael … where the past lives and the future unfurls. .. 🙂
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