Hello!
It has been awhile since I have posted. I recently had a knee replacement operation and had some complications. After 18 days in the hospital/rehab facility, I went home and have been under Home Health Physical Therapy and Nursing care for the past three months.
The Home Health Physical Therapy care has released me, but due to some existing problems, I am still under Home Health nursing care.
I am anxious to get released from Home Health nursing care and hopefully that will happen in the near future.
While I was in the Rahab facility, I had some insomnia and listened to the sounds coming from the ward.
I wrote this short fiction entitled “Echoes of Suffering” one night at 3:00 AM while in the rehab facility.
I hope you enjoy it. And maybe now, I can get back in the habit of sharing some of the short fiction I write with you.
More short fiction available in my Mailing List
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ECHOES OF SUFFERING
A Flash Fiction story by
Ed Benjamin
In the dim glow of the hospital’s rehab center’s faded light, Charlie lay still in his bed, every spring in the mattress, seemingly poised to irritate the bedsores covering his back and legs. It seemed there was no movement he could make in the bed without his nervous system sending him painful reminders of his own fragility.
The world outside was a blur and had been hazy since his admission into the rehab facility eight days ago. Inside the facility in the nether world of darkness, tendrils of light crept in from the hallway’s fluorescence, as sounds of human suffering crept into his room, sharpened his rough edges, and rubbed them raw.
As he lay there, feeling a bit sorry for himself, a low moan drifted into his room. The sound crept inward — lasting only a second — but Charlie felt it vibrate. It was almost as if a hand slipped inside his chest, encircled his heart, extending the little finger and plucking a heart string.
As the heart string vibrated, a small tremor shook him — milking droplets of dread from his soul.
A few more moans and sobs trickled down the hallway, each one a ghostly echo that resonated as they pulled at the nerve endings of his soul. The ghostly hand tugging, fingers strumming, and pulling at his emotions like a Master violinist plying a classical tragedy in Lincoln Center.
The fluorescent lights flickered, casting shadows that danced like specters on the walls. These shadows, his silent companions, performed their wordless ballet — a reflection of the unsettled nature within his own mind. He had felt comfortable before turning out the light. Now, as the sounds played with his feelings, he felt adrift in an ocean of despair, the moans of the others like the haunting calls of distant, sorrowful sea creatures beckoning him.
In this twilight world, time seemed to stretch and warp. The distant, mournful cries of his fellow patients were a chorus of the heartbroken, a symphony of souls in pain. One trembling male voice drifted a phrase shattering the silence — “I want my wife!” — triggering within Charlie the feeling that one of the saddest songs he had ever heard had come to life, the notes hanging heavy in the air, thick within the scent of antiseptic and regret.
Charlie closed his eyes, trying to escape into sleep, but the sounds of suffering followed him into his dreams. In his mind’s eye, he wandered down endless, sterile hallways, the cries of the other patients merging with his own inner voice, creating a haunting refrain vibrating deep inside him.
But even in the depths of despair, a faint glimmer of hope flickered. Each sob, each tear shed, each emotion unearthed, was a step towards healing, a painful yet necessary part of the journey towards recovery.
In this shared suffering, Charlie felt a strange sense of kinship with his fellow patients — a bond forged in the fires of adversity.
As dawn’s first light crept through the blinds, casting a gentle glow on the sterile room, Charlie felt a quiet resolve stirring within him. He was not alone in his suffering, and in that realization, he found the strength to face another day.
The road ahead was long and uncertain, but he was ready to walk it — one step at a time — one day at a time.
The End
Thank you for reading this story and as always, please
Stay In the Light,
Ed
I also have a Mailing List.
With the help of my grand niece Georgia, I have taken the first steps towards creating a mailing list.
Thoughts, Essays, Stories, and other Musings from a Grandpa who wants to share his thoughts with the world! This Grandpa is making a comeback — hence Ed’s Musings
Universal thoughts from Stoic philosophy, stories from the Tao, and some Flash Fiction for you to enjoy. Every now and then I may suggest one of my books and stories for you to order.
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