The following is a short story that I just wrote.: "Tim watched the Seabirds with envy. It was just two years ago that he had run on that beach. He could run for miles and not get tired.
Tim turned away from the window. He should never have come here at all. His parents thought it would help his "recovery" if he spent some time at the family's vacation home on Orcas Island.They even hired a physical therapist to work with him. The question was: how does one recover from a missing leg?
After Tim graduated from high school he was full of patriotic fervor and he joined the army. A year later a roadside bomb in Iraq took away whatever naive patriotism that he had left.
A light knock on the door downstairs brought Tim out of his dark thoughts. That would be his physical therapist Julie. Tim gathered his crutches for the trip downstairs. A slight mis-step and Tim crashed down the stairs.
Upon hearing the noise, Julie came in and helped him up. Tim was not seriously hurt, but he was angry. In the old days, he could run those stairs without thinking. "you were lucky"Julie told him. "yeah lucky" Tim repeated bitterly. "How about we skip the PT, and go into town and get something to eat" Julie suggested. Tim nodded. "I need to get out of here."
Dinner did little to brighten Tim's mood and he immediately went to bed when Julie took him home. Tim dreamed that he was watching the water as he often did, but this time it was different. A beautiful woman rose from the water and floated toward him. The woman touched his leg and he was healed. He had two legs again. It was all so real, but in the morning, he was still crippled.
Tim told Julie about the dream. "It is not unusual for people with injuries like yours to have dreams like that." Julie said in her best clinical voice. That night, Tim dreamed of the woman again, but this time she spoke to him. "I can give you anything you wish." she whispered in his ear. Tim decided not to mention the dream to Julie. she might think that he was losing it.
The third night, the woman came to him again. This time the woman wanted Tim to follow him.Tim got out of bed and went outside. He did not feel the cold and continued to follow the woman to the shore. Tim began to wade into the surf, the freezing water did not bother him.
Tim heard a voice behind him, he ignored it and continued to follow the beautiful woman deeper into the water. The voice on the shore became more urgent and Tim stopped for a moment. It was Julie yelling at him. What was she doing here? Tim looked toward the beautiful woman floating above the water and back at Julie.
Time began wading back toward shore. When he stepped on the beach, Julie hugged him and looked in his eyes with a serious look. "Suicide is not the answer, Tim." Tim looked out at the dark water, "I was not trying to commit suicide. She was going to heal me"
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