The Cure

The poem, To A Stranger, is what Rain has always felt about her life.  Since she could remember she always had an overactive imagination, but she never could think of when things became real to her.  Now, as she sits in inside these four salmon colored walls, thoughts of the past seem just as confusing as they did before.

Jane knows how I like my tea, she though.  “Jane, three sugars, like we always take our drink.”

Rain thinks about her mother while she waits for Jane.  She thinks of her childhood back in Richmond, VA.  Remembering how her mother seemed so afraid of the world around her.  As if there was a constant stream of noise all around her.  She always sat in her bedroom with the doors locked screaming for peace and quiet.  Her father tried relentlessly to help her maintain her sanity.  There was always a to-do list:  (1) close all the blinds, (2) turn on the radio, and (3) help take her special meds. As a little girl Rain never understood why her father had to perform these task everyday.  All she knew was that her mother would become a different person afterwards.  She would come out of the room with glazed over eyes and a tranquilized gait.  After an hour or two she would emerge out of her comatose state and look at Rain as if she were a stranger.  Rain longed for her mother to treat her like her child instead of a ghost.  She just wanted to be her mother’s baby.

“It’s so great to be sitting here with one of my good friends.  You know Jane, we’ve been through so much together.”  She looked at her dear friend and smiled.  “It seems like it was only yesterday that we were playing in the sandbox and you took my lucky penny and swallowed it.  What were you thinking?”

The memories of her and Jane flooded her head.  She smiled at the sandbox debacle and took her mind to when they were in high school.  How the used to hide on the roof during lunchtime and talk about their dream jobs and husbands.  Jane had become somewhat like a mother for Rain.  She was with her on the days when Rain’s mother was under the influence of her medication.  She would show Rain how to make her bed; brush her hair; tie her shoes…you name it.  Jane was the quite type but had a lot to say when it came to Rain.  She would often tell Rain what say when she spoke to her parents.  She would show her how to stand up the bullies, even though she was never there for the fights.

Aside from taking care of Rain’s mother, her father was doctor who had to take his practice par-time when her mother became sick.  He was always bringing home new medication for her mother.  “This is going to help mommy better Rain, you wait and see…” he would say to her.  But nothing ever worked.  The truth is that Rain’s mother suffered from auditory and visual hallucinations (a character of schizophrenia).

“Dr. Williams’ medication never worked for mom Jane.”  She looked around the bare walls of the room.  The memory transformed her from the past back to the future.  “Jane I don’t want to talk anymore, go away now!

She picked up the only book that she was able to read with the distraction of her peculiar life.  Charlotte’s Web you never cease to amaze me.

As the M.D.s looked into the two-way mirror at Rain.  Their faces had a sense of frustration.  They had been working on this case for more than four years trying to find the right medication that will help minimize the visual hallucinations.

“Dr. Shaw, the visions are becoming worse with every treatment.  She is relating her mother Jane to be a childhood friend.  She’s projecting her own experiences into an elaborate and intricate hallucination.”

Dr Shaw looked at his daughter through the glass and began to cry.  After years of watching other physians attempt to heal his daughter, he decided to take it into his own hands.  Unfortunatly his efforts were yielding the same.

“Well, on to the next treatment, we won’t stop.”

Dr. Shaw looked at his only child one last time before he walked out the room.  She stared through the glass as if she knew he was on the other side.

“I Love you Rain.  Dad is always with you” he said to himself.

He always remembers the quote:  “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”