Prompt Twenty-Seven- Drill Time
This is something I've never done before. It's called a ninety second drill and I learned about it on creativewritingprompts.com. You have 90 seconds to write everything you can find in a hospital. Then after you've written them down, write a story using all of the words you wrote down. BUT, here's the catch, it cannot be set in, near or about a hospital. I have a feeling this is going to be a good one! Let's have fun with it. Ready, set, go!
My response...
Doctor
Nurse
Cot
Needle
IV
Knife
Monitor
Patients
Scissors
Smell
Pills
Medicine
Syringe
People
Sickness
Death
Tubes
Sheets
Sadness
Hope
Tears
Robe
That was actually very hard. I couldn't think despite the fact that I've frequented hospitals lately. I thought for sure this was going to be an easy one for me and it definitely wasn't. Let's see how my story goes.
My house is a far cry from a home. My
mother is hooked up to her monitor
in the bedroom, the constant beeping now a normal thing ringing through the
house. I push open the door to check on her and it smells like pure death.
I don't know when she'll go, I guess we never do in these situations. Her cot is straight from the hospital,
metal bars and all, and it pains me to see her in such a hostile position.
The sheets
are draped loosely around her gaunt, shrinking body. The IV hangs from her hand down to the floor and then back up to where
it's hooked in, recording her every movement. Her bathrobe is falling off her shoulder, and I step into the room to fix
it. Sadness assaults me.
I love my mother, don't get me wrong. But
the sickness scares me, which is why
I try to stay far away from her as possible. The doctors say it's because I know she's going to die so I'm trying to
distance myself. One nurse even had
the audacity to yell at me for not standing by my mother, but I told her off
fast. Nobody knows what I'm going through.
"Hi Honey," my mother coos from
the bed. It's the first words she's said to me since we brought her home to die
in peace. Her voice is shaky, her eyes tear-filled.
My heart clenches in my chest.
"Just coming in to fix you," I
tell her, needing an excuse for some reason.
"Thanks," she mutters, her head
lolling to the side. But her chest is moving up and down so I know she's not
gone yet. For some odd reason, it gives me hope
that she'll make it through this, but that's a dumb emotion. The doctors even
said as much.
After I fix her robe, she struggles
to get comfortable after the pillow slips out from under her. I reach down to
grab it but her tubes get wrapped
around my arm by accident. When I pull back, I knock a pair of scissors from her bedside table. They
clink down to where the rest on the wood floor.
“I’m sorry, Mama,” I tell her, holding
back my terror. I quickly pick up everything I knocked down and replace it on
the table. Thankfully, the monitor beeps so I know I didn’t screw too much up.
“I’m an easy patient. Just make sure the needles
in tight, please, so I get the medicine,”
she begs me, her voice just barely over a whisper. I swear, every time it kills
me to see her like this. “Now, go check on your brother.”
I simply nod and retreat from her room.
Truthfully, I couldn’t stand to be in there another second. From the smell to
the feel of the room, it makes me nearly sick. I walk from her bedroom to the
kitchen where my brother is chopping pills
with a knife, using the flat
side to crunch them down.
There are people in the next room, most of whom I don’t know. My brother has
taken my mother’s sickness differently than me. Instead of distancing himself
and internalizing his grief, he’s turned to drugs to numb the pain.
The guys in the living room are already high.
I can tell by their dazed expressions and black eyes. Instead of being scared
or surprised, I’m used to this as well. The beeping, the drugs, the grief—it’s
all become a part of my daily life.
My brother bends down and takes the powder
into his nose in one swift inhale. I sort of hate him for leaving me alone with
mom. He gets to party and have fun, while I’m stuck here leering in her door to
make sure she’s still breathing.
For once, I just want to forget. I want to
be gone. I’m not sure in the end what made me chose to be lost but something
clicks in my mind watching what’s going on around me. If my brother can forget
and feel numb then I want that, too.
Carter, my brother’s best friend is
sitting in the living room. I go up to him since he’s the only guy I know well
and take his hand in mine. I lead him to the bathroom and then lock the door
behind us. I know his drug of choice—of course, he does what he does for
reasons I’m not aware of—and I want it.
“Please, Carter. I have to just go somewhere
else. I hate feeling this,” I beg him, clenching his hand in mine. I bring it
to my chest so he can feel my broken heart, barely beating.
“You’re too good,” he tells me, his eyes
softening.
“I don’t want to be anymore. I don’t want
to pretend we’re a family. I hate it. Please, or else I’ll do it alone.” He
glares at me, his big blue eyes worried. “I don’t want to. I trust you to help
me.”
“Seriously?” he questions, his voice
whiney.
“Yes,” I tell him. “Hurry before my
brother comes.” Once the syringe
fills me with emptiness, I’m gone. I finally get my reprieve from my life. I
finally get a break from the horrors of my mother’s sickness and my brother’s addiction
and my father’s absence. I’m free, if only for a short period of time.
Write your response in the comments section below or what you think of this prompt.
Didn't like this prompt? Want to do another? Check out my other prompts...
Prompt 26- Old Flame
Prompt 25- Greedy Roommate
Prompt 24- Hockey Injury
Prompt 23- Ten Year Old Letter
Prompt 22- Two Minute Thinker
Prompt 21- Truth Telling
Prompt 20- Best New Years Ever
Prompt 19- Alone for Seven Days
Prompt 18- Christmas Miracle
Prompt 17- Square One
Prompt 16- Stolen Lights
Prompt 15- Strange Reporting
Prompt 14- Thanksgiving 2013
Prompt 13- 3 Minute Free Write
Prompt 12- The Mind
Prompt 11- ABC's
Prompt 10- A Mysterious Request
Prompt 9- Why Did You Do It?
Prompt 8- Dream Turned Reality
Prompt 7- Fortune Teller
Prompt 6- Hitching a Ride Home
Prompt 5- He Turned The Key And Saw
Prompt 4- Doug
Prompt 3- They Had Nothing To Say
Prompt 2- Skydiving Secrets
Prompt 1- What's A Prompt?
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