Saturday Stories #1 Coming Back to Life

Writing Group, Berkeley Creative Wellness Center, November 30, 2015

Jillian had died, inside that is. She didn’t feel anything. She lay in bed, corpse like, only the small rise and fall of her chest giving her away and giving a glimpse at the life that lay dormant inside. She stared up at the ceiling, thinking of nothing, wondering if she was really a person. She felt blank and empty. Then one day something inside of her began to wake up just a little, just enough for her to get in the shower. The water poured over her washing away the grime, waking her up, just a little. Then since she had showered, she might as well get dressed, she thought, well I’m dressed, I might as well go for a walk.

The sun was shining and birds were flitting around on a background of blue sky, their songs filling the air. All this seemed to melt her ice, cold heart just a little and she began to cry, not sobs, just soft tears, rolling down her cheeks. The world seemed just a little brighter. Then she saw a lady with a dog pulling on a leash, it’s tail wagging wildly in pure joy. When the dog got closer it tried to jump on her with such excitement that she did something she hadn’t done in a long while, she smiled and not a fake smile either, a genuine smile, and she felt a tiny bit of joy all the way down to her toes. The lady jerked the dog calling, “Dog, no, no jumping!”

“It’s okay,” Jillian said.

“No, it’s not, he needs to learn not to jump on people.”

Then Dog was at Jillian’s side, licking her hand, while jumping in place excitedly. She began petting the dog. Its fur was incredibly soft, as soft as a puppy’s.

When the lady pulled the dog along Jillian was sad to see Dog go. She decided if one interaction with a dog could make her feel a glimpse of happiness, what would it be like to have a dog of her own? Then she decided she would go to the animal shelter and find a dog of her own. And she would give it a much better name than “Dog”.