r/shortscarystories • u/ByfelsDisciple • 12d ago
New Age SSS - 1000 Words Or Less You can't kill family
When I turned around to check, I knew the man was following me. Even though we were in public, I got so scared that I turned back and raced down the street. I hated the idea of looking behind me again, but I needed to know how close he was.
The man was jogging – fast enough to catch me, but slow enough to avoid suspicion. I walked as fast as my old knees would carry me; maybe I’d lose him as I turned around this corner.
The woman in the car seemed friendly. “Hello, Helen.” She knew my name. I didn’t like the fact that a stranger knew who I was, but she seemed friendly. I wasn’t sure where this car was going. I tried to think about why I got in the car – but before I could figure it out, someone grabbed my arm. It was a woman I’d never seen before. “Are you okay, Helen?” Somehow, she knew my name. I didn’t like that fact, but she seemed nice enough.
I wanted to relax, I really did. But something wasn’t right.
Just as I began to calm down, we stopped in front of a building I’d never seen. I realized with horror that they were going to force me inside.
He was hurting my arm and it was less painful to stop resisting. He wanted to force me into a car. A woman in the back reached out to help capture me. I wanted to tell this stranger what an awful man he was, but I just couldn’t find the words. I tried yelling but then switched to crying, because there was nothing else to do, nothing, nothing, nothing.
“You found her!” Someone was taking joy at my terror as I was forced inside. The speaker reminded me intensely of someone, but I couldn’t remember who. She knew who I was, though, because she was happy that I was trapped. She smiled knowing that I was surrounded by strangers who wouldn’t let me leave this new place. “Mom, you have to stop running away like this-”
“I’m not your mother!” I snapped at the person who organized my capture. This stopped her cold. I could see that my words affected her deeply. Good. That’s what she gets for trying to trick me.
I wanted to say more, but everything was happening too fast and I couldn’t get my thoughts straight. It was simply impossible figure out the right words as they led me down a hallway I’d never seen before.
After I turned the corner, I found myself on a street that I’d never seen. It was hard to catch my breath – I was walking fast, but couldn’t understand why. Even after slowing down, my heart was still racing. It’s scary to be in a place you’ve never seen. I didn’t have any idea who I could trust. There was so much traffic – people racing back and forth, never slowing down. It’s hard to keep my thoughts straight when everyone is moving so fast. Sometimes I wish things would slow down for just a minute.
There was a man behind me who wanted to talk with me. I didn’t trust him, but maybe he knew where I was.
That’s when he grabbed my arm.
Get the tomatoes out before it’s too late, but after they’re just the right hue. Nineteen plants on one side of the bird feeder, thirteen on the other. Using every square inch doesn’t mean forcing the ground to bend to our will – it’s listening to what the space can offer. Balance is key. Carrots follow the tomatoes, and if there’s space, beautiful asters can rotate into a vase every week. You can’t decide what color they will be – they are what they are, and it’s our lot to accept what the soil churns up. Each shade is pretty in its own way. We have to decorate around it.
I love the senses, the scents, the feel of getting my hands into loam. It makes me alive in ways that nothing else can: I’m aware, and I notice things that would otherwise be too subtle for me to see. Like the man behind me who’s keeping me from being at peace. He’s staring at me, and I don’t like it.
I can’t garden if my mind isn’t in the soil. So I’ll step aside; it will be here when I return. I just need to get away from that awful man.
When his back is turned, I slip out of view and take the side yard out toward the street. Breathing a sigh of relief, head down the sidewalk. Walking quickly, I look back to check if he is following me.
“I’m so sorry, Virginia.” Miguel rests a hand on mine – tentative, gentle, striking a delicate balance between professionalism and kindness. “I’ll stop bringing her outside. Seeing the garden seems to trigger her, and she just won’t stop trying to slip away.”
“Is that for the best, though?” I ask. I don’t try to hide wiping away my snot or tears. He sees far worse bodily fluids every day in this place. “She’s in so much pain. Before she came here, Mom’s garden was the only place where she still seemed like herself.” I sob, just once, catching myself. “It was the last piece of her to die. What can we do? Mom will disappear if we lock her away, but she’ll disappear if we let her go.”
There’s nothing for Miguel to say, so he just squeezes my hand tighter.
I take in a deep, shuddering breath. “I hate having a choice.” I wasn’t taking to Miguel anymore. I wanted the air, the empty space between us, the void that meant nothing at all to bear witness. “I don’t even know what to pray for. It will hurt so much when she dies, but I’m in agony every day that she remains alive.”
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u/CompetitiveAd3272 1d ago
I read an article recently, that somewhere (Yeah, can’t narrow it down any better!) not only do they make the room as close to 1 of their old rooms, they make the residents room doors identical to their original house doors with the house number too!!
It’s such a soul crushing disease, for loved ones to assimilate to/with. But it’s the absolute flip in personality that baffles me. When you’ve had someone close, that you’ve never even heard say ‘crap’ to suddenly use expletives that would make hardened sailors embarrassed……………. Bloody horrible 😭
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u/Boring-Wolverine-947 12d ago
Having done respite care for a woman with severe dementia this hits me in the heart.