Nosocomephobia

Something Different

May 1, 2003

    Irene was rocking on a chair in her backyard, admiring her collection of beautiful, blossomed flowers just as she did every morning. As she looked, something different was spotted today, a tiny speck.  It was floating too. Irene got up to investigate the new addition to her garden. As she got closer her eyes got smaller; squinting at the brightness of what was in front of her. Her feelings were a mix of confusion and intriguing. She couldn't quite define this as an object or a creature. She had to get even closer. The brightness of whatever it was dimmed down when she was just inches away, and now Irene had a clear view of what it was. Irene was looking at a real fairy.

"Hello Irene." were the first words spoken.

Irene looked puzzled, and then realized that it's her name that must be Irene.

"How do you know my name? What are you here for?" Irene's head piled up with questions.

"That is for me to know and you to find out. I am here to help you. I'm on your side; don't think of me as something evil. I'm just here to bring a little bit of fun into your life."

The fairy guided her into Irene's own home. The two walked past the old creaky rocking chair, which was still slowly rocking from her getting up so suddenly. Into the home filled with handmade crochet placeholders on the table and pillows on the sofa they went. Fresh pastries were laid out on the counter from earlier in the day. As they walked by she could smell the sweet frosting and crisp, flaky dough. The fairy brought Irene into what always had been Irene's bedroom. Somehow, magically, it turned into a little girl's bedroom. Pink walls surrounded her and the fairy. Framed pictures of now old, once famous actors and actresses were hung around the walls. A puffy pink bed was in the center of the room, and sitting on top was a plump teddy bear wearing a red felt ribbon tied around its neck. This was Irene's teddy bear as a child. This was Irene's old room.

The fairy let her walk around and soak in her years as a young child. There were so many memories Irene recalled just from simply standing in the room. She remembered playing with her favorite Barbie dolls in the corner; that's where the life size doll house was put. Over in the other corner by the window, she remembers toying around with a telescope her father bought her on her 6th birthday. She always told him that someday she'd want to perform her ballet routine on the surface of the squishy moon. "Irene, you're such a big dreamer," her father would tell her constantly. Irene smiled, looking at the ground and drifting back into reality. Her regular bedroom was back, the fairy was out of sight.

***

Donny's journal entry number 2:

                                        May 2, 2003

    I'm sure my next few entries will be based on my mother. She's been a bit out of it lately but won't bother to tell me what's going on. She says she's not allowed to tell. I wonder, who or what isn't allowing you to tell your son? Your only family member left? Your favorite boy? This is definitely something out of the ordinary. She'll tell me any information she's got. My mother is a little old lady. When something interesting or new happens of course she'd tell me! I want to find out what's going on.

***

(May 3, 2003)

    Sitting on the sofa, Irene took a bite of one of her pastries.  The outside was crisp and flakey. As her teeth sank deeper the squishy jelly was exposed onto her tongue. "mmmmm. I'll never get tired of my baking." she told herself as she finished it. She took a white napkin with delicate patterns on it, and wiped her mouth.  In only her eye sight, the old floor boards suddenly turned into a wide dirt path road. This went on for about a quarter of a mile.  Irene wasn't in her home anymore, but riding on the thin handlebars of Louis's bicycle. She was a giggling teenage girl with her boyfriend. Her long, frizzy curls were blowing all over the place.  Riding next to them were her two best friends. Susie and Susie's boyfriend Roger.  The two boys intended to scare the girls by hitting all the bumpy rocks along the way and kept on swerving the handlebars to make the girls squeal. In the middle of laughing Irene would tell Louis like Susie told Rogar, "stop, stop, stop!" then would giggle again. Irene was really having such a great time. Suddenly, she was back on the old worn sofa with a crumpled, dirty napkin filled with the remains of pastry in her hands.