Like a Bike Without a Seat (1042 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 2 on 19 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Hadley Tobedone (View user info) at 2006-05-11 13:35:33 EDT
Robert felt a cold draft and the geyser erupted. She smiled down at him as she dodged the stream. "You little stinker, you were just waiting weren't you?" Robert reached up slowly....
....and let out a whoop as he came down with the ball. He looked frantically around, unable to believe he had scored the first touchdown of the year. When his eyes met his mother's he smiled, dropping his mouthpiece in the dirt. He bent over to pick it up....
....and Becky pulled him down, kissing him. So sweet, that first meeting of the lips. Not since had anything taken him so pleasantly by surprise. Becky had been a fine catch. His first, as it turned out. Every time he saw her he....
....smiled. Those two sweet words from Robin's mouth meant everything at this moment. "I do." And it was done. Turn out the lights and run for the border, this was IT. As they ran down the aisle, he wanted to hold onto this feeling forever. He always....
....figured it might end like this. Robin wanted him home more, but she didn't want to give up the house, the yard, the cars they had. Keep the trappings of high society without having to sacrifice anything for it. He stared at the paper for a moment before scribbling his name at the bottom. Let it be done, it was just....
....not convenient. He had a lot of work to do, and this meeting could be the culmination of months of work. He would come immediately afterwards. Surely his sister could be there for another couple of hours while he wrapped everything up. Why couldn't she understand like Mom? Mom always had....
....that sparkle in her eyes, even at the worst times. The first time she fell, Robert had dropped everything, sped to the hospital and screamed at nurses until he was taken to her. Eventually the falls became more regular, but she refused to enter a nursing home. And he never rushed to see her. It was almost routine now. Arrive, politely ask for her room number, get coffee, then head for a visit. And it was always the same when the door opened. Eyes fixed on hers, he reached out as he always did....
....and a rough hand gripped his. "Hold on there, buddy. We've sent someone inside for help." With a blink, Robert was staring up at the clouds. He tried to sit up but the dark-skinned man held him down. He looked rather pale and did his best to look Robert in the eye. "I think you ought to stay there until you get checked out. You took that hit pretty hard."
Suddenly he realized he was lying in the middle of the street, and a sinking feeling came over him. "What...where am..." A wet cough broke his concentration, pain shooting down his arms. The rag used to wipe his mouth came away bloody.
He tried to speak again but was interrupted by the arrival of two women in white uniforms. One, the older of the two, took his wrist to check his pulse while the other began asking questions while touching and poking his torso. He tried to concentrate on her lips, but the pain in his back and arms wouldn't let him.
The younger woman leaned down and he finally heard her. It took a minute for him to process what she had asked, but he weakly croaked out "Robert Wheeler." She smiled down at him and again wiped blood off his face. The sight startled him.
Then it hit him. He wasn't feeling any pain in his legs. He tried to look down but they wouldn't let him. The paramedics arrived. The young lady, a doctor perhaps, pulled them aside and spoke to them. They came back quickly, wasting no time with their work. First the neck brace, then monitors attached to his chest and finally a needle in his arm. Suddenly the pavement was gone and he was on a gurney.
As the doors slammed shut, Robert felt tired. He closed his eyes and that blasted annoying beeping started to slow down....
The shot of electricity appeared like a red and yellow flash across his mind. Blackness came again, but a second jolt made his eyes fly open and a hiss escape his lips. Robert thought back to his mother. Had that business meeting really been so important that he was in such a rush getting to her side? He should have gone when his sister called. Now here he was, speeding off to somewhere. And his arms still fucking hurt....
This time the first jolt didn't wake him. He could sense the urgency around him, but it just didn't matter. He was so tired.
Another flash of yellow across his mind and his eyes shot open. One of the medics was shining a light into his eyes while the other was fiddling with...something out of his vision. This time Robert couldn't breath. His chest burned from the effort, but it just wasn't working.
His mother was dying, he had been told. Now it looked like it was a race to see if he would hold out longer. He tried to ignore the creeping blackness and think about her.
What was it she had always said? He'd been hearing it for 47 years, why was he having trouble with it now? Ah, that's right.... "Regrets are useless, like a bike without a seat."
The effort of smiling was too much. Everything swirled around him for a moment before the panicked breath of air leaked out of his lungs....
User Reviews
Submitted by Method (user info) at 2007-12-23 07:36:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
unfunniest man on the planet, below
Hi Bubba!
Submitted by sadie73 (user info) at 2007-12-22 22:41:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
PS: Shut up, HadToBeDumb.
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2006-05-15 18:02:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Jebus Jimminy Hadley, where the hell did this come from?
You been holding out.
Submitted by LT (user info) at 2006-05-12 12:53:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Touch.
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2006-05-12 09:51:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I liked it.
Submitted by MANICMOTHER (user info) at 2006-05-12 08:51:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by fun_with_needles (user info) at 2006-05-12 05:06:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-05-11 23:56:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Cool.
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2006-05-11 17:53:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
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Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-05-11 13:42:01 (#)
Ranking: 2
Doh!
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Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-05-11 13:41:48 (#)
Ranking: 2
I refuse to rate this
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2006-05-11 14:39:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
No probs, zak. I knew what was going on when I wrote so I guess I figured the rest of you would follow my thoughts. Plus I was a lil rushed.
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2006-05-11 14:35:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
sorry, you seemed to be adopting a shifting perspective at the start but then you settled on Robert, so I figured the earlier Robin was a mistake.
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2006-05-11 13:51:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
http://www.ubersite.com/m/73132
Submitted by crsunlimited (user info) at 2006-05-11 13:51:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nicely done. Well worth reading.
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2006-05-11 13:50:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
They're consistent. Flashbacks, different points in life, different people. I guess that wasn't as clear as I had hoped.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2006-05-11 13:48:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2006-05-11 13:43:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I think you wrote this too fast to keep the character names consistent.
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-05-11 13:42:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Doh!
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2006-05-11 13:41:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I refuse to rate this
Submitted by HadToBeDone (user info) at 2006-05-11 13:36:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
There's my 90 minute story from a week or so ago. Who am I again?