MY REALITY By Lorena Dorantes

My Reality

 
Have you ever just had to thank someone or something for having such a wonderful 
life? You look around and are forced to notice the beautiful wonders of the 
world, starting from rainbows to sweet, cuddly babies. Well... that just isn't 
me.

 
Whoever said life was wonderful and should be appreciated every second you live 
it, simply never had any true tragedy occur to them. That's the problem with 
society... no true tragedy to make you see life for what it's really worth.

 
"Would you like some more tea?" I turned to look at the young, pimple faced 
waiter, as he stood there, waiting for my response.

  

 
I smiled at him and he in turn smiled back. "No Dear, why would I want a full 
glass of tea when I have an empty one instead?" I replied.

 
The frown on his juvenile face brought a smile to mine. He shifted his feet back 
and forth and cleared his throat before leaning over and pouring more tea in my 
glass. He moved away from me quickly once he finished pouring. I breathed in and 
let out a slow, deliberate sigh as I heard his feet practically running away 
from my table. He should really be careful. The table at the end of the dining 
room could cause a real mess for him... if he were to run into it. It was not 
two minutes later that I heard a small shriek and broken glass.

 
"Hmm.  Lesson learned." I spoke to myself, but it was a young girl next to me 
that answered.

 
"What lesson would that be?" She asked.  I continued staring into traffic. I did 
not need to look at the teen blond to know she was speaking to me.

 
"To not be in haste." A simple answer I felt would suffice but sadly, today's 
children never know when to quit.

 
"Is that... is that what happened to you? Were you in a... rush?" This time I 
did look directly at her but she was too busy coddling my wheelchair with her 
eyes. I noticed her beautiful face yet it was tarnished with the imperfection of 
a malignant, small smirk. Her bright, blue eyes roved over my wheelchair until 
she found what she was particularly interested in. Me.

"I'm sorry.  I just have never... seen..." She stopped speaking abruptly. Her 
eyes looked away and although her plate was fresh and her glass was full, she 
began searching for her waiter.

 
"You seem to have a question in your mind." I forced myself to smile as I 
continued the conversation with the young girl. The noise of the traffic seemed 
to be only a slight hum now and the fast cars were only colored blurs.

 
Her eyes widened a bit and I could hear her breathing coming in a short, quick 
rhythm. "What happened to you? Why are you in a...?" She stopped. As if omitting 
the word wheelchair made the question less ominous.

 
"Life, Dear. Routines and hustles of life happened. When someone is so shallow 
that they take it all for granted, that is when Fate comes in and takes 
charge. When you think you have it all under control, someone... or something 
decides to show you who really is in charge!" I could feel the wrinkle between 
my eyes deepen and my cheeks hurt from holding the frown in place. Slowly... I 
relaxed my cheeks first into a small smile and with it, the wrinkle between my 
eyes smoothed out.

 
The girl's eyes were truly a magnificent color. Her wide eyes revealed specks of 
clear blue surrounding the pupil. "I... I... enjoyed our conversation." She 
said, and then nodded her head to me as she stood and walked away in a rigidly 
straight line, the whole time clutching her small bag to her chest.

 
The smile spread across my face. A few minutes later I watched as she caught a 
taxi. The taxi driver really needed to be careful with the stoplight. Many 
people ran the red light and if you stepped on the gas too soon for your green 
light, you could easily get hit.

 
"Waiter... Dear, can you bring me a small piece of pie? It seems I will be here 
a bit longer." I said it quickly to the waiter who now hung close to the other 
side of the patio from where I sat.

 
I turned just in time to witness the taxi with the young girl get hit by a truck 
running the red light. I ate my pie as I watched the young girl with the blue 
eyes get taken out of the taxi cab with care. There were bandages placed round 
her head, covering her eyes and most of her face. It appeared the glass from the 
taxi’s windshield had been shattered and the many, tiny fragments had been 
thrust directly into her lovely face and blue eyes. Such a lovely face… such a 
shame. The ambulance raced her off to the hospital where she would undoubtedly 
be cared for but would most likely not recover completely.

 
The final remnants of the accident were cleaned up as I readied myself to go 
home. I sat back and let out a long sigh of satisfaction. Having done a job well 
done was always gratifying in itself. The cars continued passing by and the 
sweet hum of their engines were like music to me… right on cue. Tomorrow I would 
be back for another encounter. After all, today’s children must have a teacher 
to learn from. They must learn obedience and appreciation. Tomorrow and every 
day after that, but for today… my duty was done. 

 

 
A small chuckle escaped me as I recalled my own tragedy. The doctor never did 
believe I would survive. Terrible death the young doctor suffered… such a shame. 
He really should have been more careful.

    



BIO:

Lorena Dorantes enjoys writing about the black holes found in the other uknown 
space... people's souls.  She has been previously published in Long Story Short, 
Absent Willow Review, and Static Motion.  Currently, she also has a book under 
review depicting what life could be like if existence depended on one dark soul.