All for a Laugh

When you are little the best thing in the world is to laugh with your friends. “How long can you hold your breath?” Adam asks. “Oh! A really long time. A LOT longer than YOOOU.” I answer. “Okay prove it.” Adam says with a quizzical smirk. Adam and two other friends join in to see just how long I can hold my breath. Being the comedian I am, I don’t really care how long I can hold my breath. I am just trying to make my face glow as red as possible so that they all laugh from the ridiculousness. In fifth grade like I said you just go for the laugh. “Okay, ready, set, GO!” Adam points at me and as I hold on to a chair, I slowly start to focus on my head while pushing all my breath up to my face, kind of like I was boiling over. Suddenly everything became blurry and dark…

Shortly after I hear some noises that jar me awake. My thoughts feel sluggish as I try to remember what just happened. – Wow I must have passed out, did I hit my head? Everything feels weird. As I open my eyes the light seems so bright. I try to look at my surroundings, but my eyes don’t seem to work. I heard a girl stir; she must have been sitting by me. She sounds startled as if I scared her with just a slight movement of my head “Oh my god… Lynn? Can you hear me Lynn…? “Yeah…” I responded with a raspy voice. I struggle to get out some more words. “I must… ” but it is too hard for me to talk, and I cough. The girl rushes to the door “She’s awake… Nurse! Nurse! Come quickly!”

Nurse? I think. I must have hit my head, and I am in the nurse’s office. “Lynn, can you see me?” the girl says all hyped up. “My eyes hurt, and my body feels weird can you help me get up the bus should be coming soon.” As I struggle to try to get up, she places her hand on my shoulder and says “Lynn I think we should wait till the doctor comes in.” “Doctor? Why do I need a doctor? It was just a joke I must have passed out.” My eyes start to adjust to the light, and I see a blonde girl in her teen’s smiling at me with tears in her eyes. “Who are you?” I ask as I look around the room, I notice flowers on the stand next to me. “Where am I?” “Lynn, I am your sister Jennifer. I laugh in her face “Ha! That is funny, I don’t have a SISTER!” as I look at her with a big question mark on my face.

Before Jennifer has a chance to respond the doctor smiles as he comes in and slowly checks me over, shining a light in my eyes, he remarks about the wonderment of science and how he knew I would wake up eventually. As he puts his hand on my head he says “We have been waiting Lynn for your brain to heal. You have been in a coma for a very long time.” “What does that mean?” I asked “I know that this is a lot for you. With some physical therapy I think that you can make a full recovery. Try not to move too much right now be gentle with yourself, you have to…” But I didn’t let him finish his sentence, I swung my arm out from under the sheets and knocked his hand from my head. For the first time I looked down at my exposed torso and arm, I realized I was in a woman’s body. I was no longer just a little kid. In shock I stammered out loud – but… I am..mm only ten years Ooold… Tearing up, I continue to look down at my body in amazement and my voice cracks as I try to yell “How LONG have I been in a coma?” I pleaded with Jennifer. “How long?!” “Thirteen years” Jennifer whispered. “What… did you say?” I strained my neck to have a better look at her thinking if I could see her clearly that things would start to make sense. “It has been thirteen years since you fell and hit your head… Before I was even born.”

“This is a lot to take in Lynn, I will come back and check on you in a little bit why don’t you try and rest until your mother gets here.” the doctor says as he motions Jennifer to come with him out in the hallway. “I will be right back Lynn” Jennifer says as she squeezes my hand. “You are just going to leave me here? You are going to tell me something like this and just walk out the door with no other explanation. Steaming, and obviously red in the face I cry “What if you woke up in a bed and someone told you most of your life passed you by in a just a blink of an eye! How would that make you feel?” Jennifer looked at me with more tears now falling from her face. “Lynn, I have always loved you and could not wait for the day when we could actually talk. I just don’t want to overwhelm you when you need more time to recover fully.”

As Jennifer walks out the door with the doctor. I stare at the ceiling. I just want to jump up and scream and shout. Instead, I lie there tears start to boil over inside me. Crying uncontrollably, I strain to move but my body refuses to cooperate. After about twenty minutes of struggling just to lift my arms, look around the room and wiggle my feet, I pass out.

I awake to my mother’s hand in mine. “Ma?” a warm soothing feeling flows through my body “Hi sweetie, how are you feeling?” “Ma… I had a horrible dream. I blinked my eyes open and there was my mom resting her book on the table next to my bed. She covered my hand with her other hand and gave it a little pat. “Hi Lynn, it’s so good to see you awake.” Coming closer she reached up and pushed a strand of my hair out of my face. I looked twice at her recognizable face, yet she didn’t really look like my Ma. Well maybe a little, but a lot older then this morning when we had breakfast together. “Ma, is that you? “Yes Lynn, I’m here. She lifted my hand up and kissed it. I am so happy I can’t wait to… she stopped mid-sentence. Lynn? Lynn… she looked at me with concern in her eyes. Honey, can you hear me?” My eyes went fuzzy as my mother slipped from view, and it feels like I am getting sucked down into a black hole.

“Lynn, Lynn-innn…. Through sparkles, you know the kind you see on a fuzzy TV set, I see Adam come into view looking down at me making a silly face. “Come on, we are going to miss the bus.” He reaches for my hand as I rub the back of my head then he slowly pulls me to my feet. “Wow that was so weird… it was like I fell into a whole different world. I can’t wait to tell my mom I had a sister. I have always wanted to have a sister.

---

This story was inspired by partially true events I think… 😉

And

Missy’s MAD Challenge #002!

https://madmissywork.blog/2024/08/12/missys-mad-challenge-002/

The prompt was: Suddenly everything became blurry and dark… I immediately thought of the time when I passed out while holding my breath just trying to make my friends laugh. I did not get a chance to work on a story or art and some weeks went by. When I saw Missy’s MAD Challenge #003 What if… and #004 Crying uncontrollably… I was even more inspired. These prompts really got me thinking – what would make me cry? It was a hard challenge because my cry box is a little bit on the broken side. Stuff must really be bad for Niagara Falls to re-open. By trying to combine all three challenges into one I had a lot of fun just writing. I am pretty sure we are supposed to do one prompt at a time, but the main point is imagination and creativity.

Thank you, Missy, for the inspiration and getting my pen flowing again. Prompts can be a great gateway to help you find new ways to create. If you feel like you want to join in on this challenge, you can start anytime. I look forward to reading and seeing what everyone creates. Remember to tag your responses with MMC and #missysmadchallenge so we all can see your inspired creative works.