The Wish

9/18/99

The Wish

The noonday sun beat down on the young man on the park bench as he twisted his body and rocked back and forth as if possessed by demons seeking to escape. His facial expressions were grimaces and his head moved constantly like one of those dolls with the bobbing heads. His name was Chris and at that moment he was barely hanging on to life, wondering why all of this was happening to him.

He sat alone performing his twisted ballet, avoiding eye contact as the joggers and dog-walkers paraded past. He wasn't a junkie or a mental patient; his struggle was Parkinson's Disease and this struggle had been going on for a long time. The medicine he took was no longer effective and had turned against him making it seem as if his limbs were being guided by a drunken puppeteer with a cruel streak.

A group of four joggers approached him as he heard one say to the others "I'm gonna stop here and make a phone call...I'll catch up in a minute". The others responded "See ya in a little bit, Stephen" as he stopped a few yards from Chris and got out his cell-phone from his fanny pack. Chris could see that this man was in excellent shape and he tried in vain to remember a time in his life when he had been in a similar condition. As the man sat down on the opposite end of the bench, he avoided any eye contact with Chris.

"Hi, honey, I didn't want to wake you up when I left for my run this morning. I'm going in to the office for an hour or so and then I'll meet you and the kids up at the cabin....yeah, take the 4X4 and bring some champagne and we'll celebrate my new promotion" he continued. Chris tried to focus on what it was like to have a job or a family or a sports utility vehicle or a cabin to go to. His days were a nightmare of medicines, their side effects, and trying to stay near a bathroom at all times....his nights much the same.

Stephen glanced at his Rolex and felt his pulse while cradling the cell-phone under his chin and looked off in the distance to avoid meeting Chris' eyes. Chris, meanwhile, was trying to reach in his pocket for his medicines and having a difficult time as uncontrollable muscle spasms rocked his upper body. He managed to get his pills out but spilled quite a few around the bench in the process. "Allright, honey..I love you too" Stephen said as he put the phone back and stood up crushing several of Chris' pills in the process. "Hey" Chris shouted at him, knowing how expensive his medicines were "you're stepping on my pills".

Stephen turned to face Chris for the first time and said "If pill-poppers like you would get off drugs and stay out of the public parks, then people like me could be free to enjoy them as they were intended. I'm tired of my tax-dollars going to helping you support your habit and have you sit out here in broad daylight going through your withdrawls in front of God and everyone else". Chris replied "I have PD....." but Stephen cut him off saying "PD, VD, I don't care what you call your filthy obsession, just go crawl in a hole somewhere so the world doesn't have to look at you". Chris was in shock but started to say "I wish..."but Stephen once again cut him off and walked away muttering "I wish that decent citizens like me didn't...." as he resumed his jog.

Chris' body twisted painfully as the tears ran down his face and he said "I wish you knew what I have to live with each day, I wish you could take this disease and deal with it for 24 hours". He lay down on the bench and began sobbing.

At that moment, Stephen's jog was cut short as he began to twist at random in short bursts of energy. His partners were up ahead a little ways on the path but he felt something like shame wash over him and didn't try to call out. He stopped and felt something horrifying beginning. His body felt like it was trying to turn itself inside out. He had mobility and dexterity but it was as if he had too much of each of them. His mind seemed to be racing like his body but only seemed to stop and focus on negative things, things he hadn't thought of in years. What the hell was happening?

As Chris felt his sadness quickly diminish, he was totally unprepared for what washed over him. He felt his body relax and felt the cobwebs clear from his head. He sat up straight and stretched his arms out in front of him like a cat awaking from a nap. They were both steady as a rock, something he hadn't seen in years. Something was happening to his face; he realized he was smiling. He stood up, took a deep breath, and began to run along the path, enjoying the feel of the wind on his face and the sun beating down on his skin. He knew then his wish had come true.

Stephen stopped and tried to open his fanny pack but couldn't hold still long enough to work the zipper. After much fidgeting, he finally got it open and got out his cell-phone but every time he tried to punch in a number he hit multiple keys and finally gave up in disgust. His family would soon be waiting for him at the cabin but that seemed inconsequential compared to whatever was happening to him now. He planned on stopping at a coffeeshop on the perimeter of the park to try and figure this out.

Chris was out of breath but he had so much adrenaline running through his system...he felt so alive! A frisbee landed at his feet and a kid's voice rang out "Would you throw it back, mister?". Chris answered in a booming voice he hardly recognized as his own "Go long!" as he gave it a mighty throw across the field and the child ran after it. "You certainly look like you're having a good day" said a young woman sitting on a bench nearby. Chris realized he was still grinning ear-to-ear. He had noticed her earlier on his way to the park but was too intimidated then to speak. He laughingly told her "I really can't recall when I've felt this good" and continued on towards his apartment.

Jogging had never been this tiring and uncomfortable Stephen thought to himself. His back hurt, his legs felt weak, and he couldn't maintain any kind of normal gait. He entered the coffeeshop and sat at a table and immediately started fidgeting in his seat trying to find a posture that felt comfortable; his body seemed to have a mind of it's own as others in the shop watched him move about in his chair. He ordered a latte when the waitress came around and tried to appear normal. His jogging friends would wonder where he was but he didn't care. He just hoped no one would recognize him. His coffee came and he spilled it on himself during his first attempted sip. Polite whispers at nearby tables told him his performance had not gone unnoticed. He ignored the stain on his jogging pants and sat there for the next hour while his mind and body spun crazily in a demented dance.

The first thing Chris did when he arrived at his place was to pick up the phone and dial a number. He hadn't made contact in years. When the voice at the other end answered, he began "Hi, Mom, it's Chris" and then he started crying. "Oh, Chris" his mother said " I haven't heard from you in so long....your voice sounds so strong...are you doing okay?". Chris said "Mom, right now I'm having a great day. I wanted to tell you that I love you so much and that you did a wonderful job of raising all of us and that..". "Chris" his Mom interrupted "Slow down and tell me about what's happened to you". "Mom, I don't have much time. Just remember that though PD wears my body down, I'm still aware of the world around me but will simply be unable to participate any longer...I love you..always remember that" as he hung up the phone and the tears ran down his face.

The fidgeting seemed to have gone away during the hour Stephen sat trying to drink his latte without applying much more of it to his jogging outfit. Other customers came and went so his embarrassment was kept secret from the public..until he stood up. But with the disappearance of his excess energy came a great emotional and physical drain that was pulling him down. The waitress left him alone after cleaning two of his spills from his table and had apparently told her replacement about his odd behavior. What in the world was happening to him? One minute it felt like he had Mexican jumping beans running through his veins and now he felt like a bicycle tire slowly going flat with no visible puncture.

That afternoon, three of his old friends thought they saw a ghost as Chris ran past them in the early afternoon sun. He didn't stop to talk with any of them to try and tell them what was happening. He ordered spaghetti for lunch and handled his utensils just like old times. He couldn't stop smiling at his new gift. His gait was normal, he could smell a hundred different smells and his lunch had tasted delicious. His senses were alive for the first time in the last 10 years

Stephen had a difficult time getting up from his table and stumbled and lurched his way to the bathroom. His bladder didn't wait for him to make it to a stall and the stain joined the previous coffee stains as he fought to hold his anger in check. Losing his balance, he caught himself on the wall as he clumsily fell down on the toilet seat. "What in the hell is happening to me?" he spoke aloud in the empty bathroom as tears began to run down his face. He needed to get back to his house and call a doctor and find out the cause of all this. As he left the bathroom and stumbled towards his table, one of the owners came up and said "Listen, buddy, you need to pay up and leave". Stephen, intensely aware of his appearance and thoroughly ashamed of his physical condition simply nodded. His voice felt tired and he was having trouble annunciating words. At the cash register, he realized his dexterity was all but gone as he struggled to fit his hand into the wet pocket of his pants to get his wallet. After watching him struggle for several minutes, the owner said "Just leave and don't come back" as Stephen left the coffeehouse and stumbled into the late afternoon. He started back through the park towards his house.

Chris' afternoon and early evening hours were spent downtown enjoying the hustle and bustle of city life and taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells. He went shopping for clothes and the necessary ingredients to prepare one of his favorite dishes (he couldn't remember when he had last cooked a meal on his own). He thought he saw the woman from the park at the grocery store but he couldn't be sure and was distracted by all the wonderful smells he hadn't been aware of for years. As he made his way home, he shared his smiles with everyone he saw and was even seen skipping the final few blocks to his apartment.

The sun was setting as Stephen realized his walking (which appeared as an off-balance shuffle) wasn't going to get him home before dark. A group of youths ahead on the path looked like trouble but Stephen's present condition allowed for neither "fight nor flight" and so he continued forward, aware that his weak voice couldn't scream "Help" if he tried. His heart started racing and his hands and legs began to tremor. "That's a nice cell-phone and wristwatch you got there" one of the youths said to him. Stephen mumbled "take anything, just please..." before the wind was knocked out of him by a fist to his stomach. He felt his bladder let go as the gang of youths removed his valuables and dragged him off the trail into the bushes where they left him with a parting kick to his head. Everything went black.

After a wonderful dinner, Chris got out some old LPs he hadn't listened to in years and played them as he cleaned up his apartment. He had the energy of a man possessed as he brandished bucket and mop for the next several hours until it looked as clean as the day he'd moved in 10 years ago. Afterwards, he opened his window and looked out at the night sky with amazement and wondered why he hadn't done this before. He read the newspaper (filled in most of the crossword puzzle) and had a cup of tea before heading off to bed. He was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The automatic sprinklers woke Stephen around dawn. Through the aches and pains of the events of the night before, hunger and the need for a cup of coffee dominated his thoughts as he slowly tried to get up off the ground. His mind felt very muddled and foggy as he tried to piece together all the bizarre activity of the day before. Once standing, balance seemed a constant challenge as he stumbled down the path through the park again towards the coffeeshop. Wait, he'd been kicked out yesterday afternoon and an awkward search of his wet and dirty clothes told him that his money was gone too. The bench ahead of him looked familiar as he lurched towards it and plopped down. As he sat with his hands and legs shaking uncontrollably and a depressing movie playing continuously on a big screen inside his head, he tried to remember what had instigated all of this..an altercation of some sort. Then he saw the pills on the ground at his feet and as he picked the pieces off the ground, a dim lightbulb went off in his head.

Chris couldn't remember a better night's sleep in his life. He thought of making an omelette but decided to dress up in his new clothes and go out for brunch. He went to a small restaurant downtown that he had heard served wonderful breakfasts (his PD had never allowed him to eat comfortably in front of others before). His meal was better than he imagined and he was having champagne and orange juice as an after-meal treat when he spotted her. The woman from the park yesterday that he thought he'd seen at the grocery store. She was heading toward the same spot in the park as before so Chris finished his drink, paid his bill, and headed into the park looking for her.

Stephen sat looking at the pieces of yellow and brown pills in his hand as he replayed the events of yesterday in his mind. The pill-popping fellow on the bench yesterday had become upset when some of his pills had been stepped on...hadn't he had something physical going on that looked like what Stephen was enduring? His brain was muddled and he wasn't sure anymore. He clutched the pieces tightly in his hand as the morning park crowd began to parade past his park bench, trying not to stare at his horrible appearance and his trembling extremities. Thinking he had nothing to lose, Stephen swallowed the hodge-podge of pills and waited for something to happen.

Chris saw her over near the grassy field sitting and people watching. "Hello" she said when she saw him "having another good day?". Chris smiled as he sat down and asked her "Would you like to hear a story?". "Sure" she replied. Chris proceeded to tell her of a man who was banished from participating in everyday life and who was forced to carry his prison cell with him everywhere he went. But one day, as he was watching the people laugh and point at him, he made a wish. Chris paused as she asked "What was the wish?". He told her that the man wished to be set free just for the day while one of his tormentors took his place. He paused again as she asked "So what happened to both of them?". Chris glanced at his watch and said "Look, it's been a pleasure talking to you like this. I've got to run right now. Next time I see you, I'll fill you in on the rest of the story". With a vague idea of what was to happen next, Chris headed for the bench where it had all started yesterday. He was not prepared for what awaited him there.

As he sat the on the bench for the next 45 minutes, Stephen felt his mind clear as his limbs started to cooperate with him. "This has been sort of bad dream" he said aloud to no one as life once again began to flow through his system. But the longer he sat there, the more nervous excess energy began to take over. Like yesterday's experience but worse he thought as he began to squirm and twist on the bench. "Oh God, here we go again" he cried as the movements became more exaggerated. And then he spotted Chris.

Still excited from talking to the woman he'd been so intimidated by in the past, Chris was almost up to the bench before he spotted Stephen squirming and fidgeting in his stained jogging outfit from yesterday. "Did you have a nice day?" Chris taunted as he sat down next to him. Then, noticing some yellow and brown pieces around Stephen's mouth, Chris asked sternly "How much did you take and how long ago?". Stephen replied that he'd taken the pills that had fallen to the ground yesterday when they encountered one another. Chris asked "All of them?" to which Stephen nodded yes as his movements increased. "Now, you know how bad PD is, don't you? Are you going to be rude again to someone you see shuffling or trembling?" Chris barked at him. Stephen just said "I'm so sorry...I didn't know" as tears filled his eyes and his body attempted to turn itself inside out.

Chris had been away from his medicine for 24 hours and a feeling of doom and gloom clamped down over his mind as he watched Stephen's body suddenly relax and his facial features soften. Stephen, his body awoken from his bad dream, got up quickly off the bench and started running towards his house with no further words with Chris. . He'd call his family since they were certainly wondering where he'd gone to and get cleaned up out of this mess he was wearing. He couldn't believe what he had just gone through and prayed it would never happen again. Some friends called out to him as he ran past but one look at his appearance was enough to frighten children and small animals and he continued on.

Chris was so weak that he couldn't get up right away. His medicine was back at the house but that seemed a lifetime away in terms of available energy. He began to shuffle and stumble down the path towards his apartment when he spotted her. It was too late to go another way and so without looking her direction, he kept going.

She was shocked to see the fellow who had left her not too long ago in the middle of telling her a story stumbling down the path towards her. He acted as if he didn't want her to notice him but the tears rolling down his cheeks and his awkward gait told her what a difficult time he was having.

"Hey" she said, her voice catching "I'd like to hear the rest of your story sometime". Chris said "Are you sure?". She looked at him for a second and stood up and walked over to him. As she took his hand, she said "Sure, I've got all the time in the world" as they walked along. She had decided that good people like this are rare and that she wanted to be part of a story that never ends.



		9/18/99 The Wish The noonday sun beat down on the young man on the park bench as he twisted his body and rocked back and forth as if possessed by demons seeking to escape. His facial expressions were grimaces and his head moved constantly like one of those dolls with the bobbing heads. His name was Chris and at that moment he was barely hanging on to life, wondering why all of this was happening to him. He sat alone performing his twisted ballet, avoiding eye contact as the joggers and dog-walkers paraded past. He wasn't a junkie or a mental patient; his struggle was Parkinson's Disease and this struggle had been going on for a long time. The medicine he took was no longer effective and had turned against him making it seem as if his limbs were being guided by a drunken puppeteer with a cruel streak. A group of four joggers approached him as he heard one say to the others "I'm gonna stop here and make a phone call...I'll catch up in a minute". The others responded "See ya in a little bit, Stephen" as he stopped a few yards from Chris and got out his cell-phone from his fanny pack. Chris could see that this man was in excellent shape and he tried in vain to remember a time in his life when he had been in a similar condition. As the man sat down on the opposite end of the bench, he avoided any eye contact with Chris. "Hi, honey, I didn't want to wake you up when I left for my run this morning. I'm going in to the office for an hour or so and then I'll meet you and the kids up at the cabin....yeah, take the 4X4 and bring some champagne and we'll celebrate my new promotion" he continued. Chris tried to focus on what it was like to have a job or a family or a sports utility vehicle or a cabin to go to. His days were a nightmare of medicines, their side effects, and trying to stay near a bathroom at all times....his nights much the same. Stephen glanced at his Rolex and felt his pulse while cradling the cell-phone under his chin and looked off in the distance to avoid meeting Chris' eyes. Chris, meanwhile, was trying to reach in his pocket for his medicines and having a difficult time as uncontrollable muscle spasms rocked his upper body. He managed to get his pills out but spilled quite a few around the bench in the process. "Allright, honey..I love you too" Stephen said as he put the phone back and stood up crushing several of Chris' pills in the process. "Hey" Chris shouted at him, knowing how expensive his medicines were "you're stepping on my pills". Stephen turned to face Chris for the first time and said "If pill-poppers like you would get off drugs and stay out of the public parks, then people like me could be free to enjoy them as they were intended. I'm tired of my tax-dollars going to helping you support your habit and have you sit out here in broad daylight going through your withdrawls in front of God and everyone else". Chris replied "I have PD....." but Stephen cut him off saying "PD, VD, I don't care what you call your filthy obsession, just go crawl in a hole somewhere so the world doesn't have to look at you". Chris was in shock but started to say "I wish..."but Stephen once again cut him off and walked away muttering "I wish that decent citizens like me didn't...." as he resumed his jog. Chris' body twisted painfully as the tears ran down his face and he said "I wish you knew what I have to live with each day, I wish you could take this disease and deal with it for 24 hours". He lay down on the bench and began sobbing. At that moment, Stephen's jog was cut short as he began to twist at random in short bursts of energy. His partners were up ahead a little ways on the path but he felt something like shame wash over him and didn't try to call out. He stopped and felt something horrifying beginning. His body felt like it was trying to turn itself inside out. He had mobility and dexterity but it was as if he had too much of each of them. His mind seemed to be racing like his body but only seemed to stop and focus on negative things, things he hadn't thought of in years. What the hell was happening? As Chris felt his sadness quickly diminish, he was totally unprepared for what washed over him. He felt his body relax and felt the cobwebs clear from his head. He sat up straight and stretched his arms out in front of him like a cat awaking from a nap. They were both steady as a rock, something he hadn't seen in years. Something was happening to his face; he realized he was smiling. He stood up, took a deep breath, and began to run along the path, enjoying the feel of the wind on his face and the sun beating down on his skin. He knew then his wish had come true. Stephen stopped and tried to open his fanny pack but couldn't hold still long enough to work the zipper. After much fidgeting, he finally got it open and got out his cell-phone but every time he tried to punch in a number he hit multiple keys and finally gave up in disgust. His family would soon be waiting for him at the cabin but that seemed inconsequential compared to whatever was happening to him now. He planned on stopping at a coffeeshop on the perimeter of the park to try and figure this out. Chris was out of breath but he had so much adrenaline running through his system...he felt so alive! A frisbee landed at his feet and a kid's voice rang out "Would you throw it back, mister?". Chris answered in a booming voice he hardly recognized as his own "Go long!" as he gave it a mighty throw across the field and the child ran after it. "You certainly look like you're having a good day" said a young woman sitting on a bench nearby. Chris realized he was still grinning ear-to-ear. He had noticed her earlier on his way to the park but was too intimidated then to speak. He laughingly told her "I really can't recall when I've felt this good" and continued on towards his apartment. Jogging had never been this tiring and uncomfortable Stephen thought to himself. His back hurt, his legs felt weak, and he couldn't maintain any kind of normal gait. He entered the coffeeshop and sat at a table and immediately started fidgeting in his seat trying to find a posture that felt comfortable; his body seemed to have a mind of it's own as others in the shop watched him move about in his chair. He ordered a latte when the waitress came around and tried to appear normal. His jogging friends would wonder where he was but he didn't care. He just hoped no one would recognize him. His coffee came and he spilled it on himself during his first attempted sip. Polite whispers at nearby tables told him his performance had not gone unnoticed. He ignored the stain on his jogging pants and sat there for the next hour while his mind and body spun crazily in a demented dance. The first thing Chris did when he arrived at his place was to pick up the phone and dial a number. He hadn't made contact in years. When the voice at the other end answered, he began "Hi, Mom, it's Chris" and then he started crying. "Oh, Chris" his mother said " I haven't heard from you in so long....your voice sounds so strong...are you doing okay?". Chris said "Mom, right now I'm having a great day. I wanted to tell you that I love you so much and that you did a wonderful job of raising all of us and that..". "Chris" his Mom interrupted "Slow down and tell me about what's happened to you". "Mom, I don't have much time. Just remember that though PD wears my body down, I'm still aware of the world around me but will simply be unable to participate any longer...I love you..always remember that" as he hung up the phone and the tears ran down his face. The fidgeting seemed to have gone away during the hour Stephen sat trying to drink his latte without applying much more of it to his jogging outfit. Other customers came and went so his embarrassment was kept secret from the public..until he stood up. But with the disappearance of his excess energy came a great emotional and physical drain that was pulling him down. The waitress left him alone after cleaning two of his spills from his table and had apparently told her replacement about his odd behavior. What in the world was happening to him? One minute it felt like he had Mexican jumping beans running through his veins and now he felt like a bicycle tire slowly going flat with no visible puncture. That afternoon, three of his old friends thought they saw a ghost as Chris ran past them in the early afternoon sun. He didn't stop to talk with any of them to try and tell them what was happening. He ordered spaghetti for lunch and handled his utensils just like old times. He couldn't stop smiling at his new gift. His gait was normal, he could smell a hundred different smells and his lunch had tasted delicious. His senses were alive for the first time in the last 10 years Stephen had a difficult time getting up from his table and stumbled and lurched his way to the bathroom. His bladder didn't wait for him to make it to a stall and the stain joined the previous coffee stains as he fought to hold his anger in check. Losing his balance, he caught himself on the wall as he clumsily fell down on the toilet seat. "What in the hell is happening to me?" he spoke aloud in the empty bathroom as tears began to run down his face. He needed to get back to his house and call a doctor and find out the cause of all this. As he left the bathroom and stumbled towards his table, one of the owners came up and said "Listen, buddy, you need to pay up and leave". Stephen, intensely aware of his appearance and thoroughly ashamed of his physical condition simply nodded. His voice felt tired and he was having trouble annunciating words. At the cash register, he realized his dexterity was all but gone as he struggled to fit his hand into the wet pocket of his pants to get his wallet. After watching him struggle for several minutes, the owner said "Just leave and don't come back" as Stephen left the coffeehouse and stumbled into the late afternoon. He started back through the park towards his house. Chris' afternoon and early evening hours were spent downtown enjoying the hustle and bustle of city life and taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells. He went shopping for clothes and the necessary ingredients to prepare one of his favorite dishes (he couldn't remember when he had last cooked a meal on his own). He thought he saw the woman from the park at the grocery store but he couldn't be sure and was distracted by all the wonderful smells he hadn't been aware of for years. As he made his way home, he shared his smiles with everyone he saw and was even seen skipping the final few blocks to his apartment. The sun was setting as Stephen realized his walking (which appeared as an off-balance shuffle) wasn't going to get him home before dark. A group of youths ahead on the path looked like trouble but Stephen's present condition allowed for neither "fight nor flight" and so he continued forward, aware that his weak voice couldn't scream "Help" if he tried. His heart started racing and his hands and legs began to tremor. "That's a nice cell-phone and wristwatch you got there" one of the youths said to him. Stephen mumbled "take anything, just please..." before the wind was knocked out of him by a fist to his stomach. He felt his bladder let go as the gang of youths removed his valuables and dragged him off the trail into the bushes where they left him with a parting kick to his head. Everything went black. After a wonderful dinner, Chris got out some old LPs he hadn't listened to in years and played them as he cleaned up his apartment. He had the energy of a man possessed as he brandished bucket and mop for the next several hours until it looked as clean as the day he'd moved in 10 years ago. Afterwards, he opened his window and looked out at the night sky with amazement and wondered why he hadn't done this before. He read the newspaper (filled in most of the crossword puzzle) and had a cup of tea before heading off to bed. He was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. The automatic sprinklers woke Stephen around dawn. Through the aches and pains of the events of the night before, hunger and the need for a cup of coffee dominated his thoughts as he slowly tried to get up off the ground. His mind felt very muddled and foggy as he tried to piece together all the bizarre activity of the day before. Once standing, balance seemed a constant challenge as he stumbled down the path through the park again towards the coffeeshop. Wait, he'd been kicked out yesterday afternoon and an awkward search of his wet and dirty clothes told him that his money was gone too. The bench ahead of him looked familiar as he lurched towards it and plopped down. As he sat with his hands and legs shaking uncontrollably and a depressing movie playing continuously on a big screen inside his head, he tried to remember what had instigated all of this..an altercation of some sort. Then he saw the pills on the ground at his feet and as he picked the pieces off the ground, a dim lightbulb went off in his head. Chris couldn't remember a better night's sleep in his life. He thought of making an omelette but decided to dress up in his new clothes and go out for brunch. He went to a small restaurant downtown that he had heard served wonderful breakfasts (his PD had never allowed him to eat comfortably in front of others before). His meal was better than he imagined and he was having champagne and orange juice as an after-meal treat when he spotted her. The woman from the park yesterday that he thought he'd seen at the grocery store. She was heading toward the same spot in the park as before so Chris finished his drink, paid his bill, and headed into the park looking for her. Stephen sat looking at the pieces of yellow and brown pills in his hand as he replayed the events of yesterday in his mind. The pill-popping fellow on the bench yesterday had become upset when some of his pills had been stepped on...hadn't he had something physical going on that looked like what Stephen was enduring? His brain was muddled and he wasn't sure anymore. He clutched the pieces tightly in his hand as the morning park crowd began to parade past his park bench, trying not to stare at his horrible appearance and his trembling extremities. Thinking he had nothing to lose, Stephen swallowed the hodge-podge of pills and waited for something to happen. Chris saw her over near the grassy field sitting and people watching. "Hello" she said when she saw him "having another good day?". Chris smiled as he sat down and asked her "Would you like to hear a story?". "Sure" she replied. Chris proceeded to tell her of a man who was banished from participating in everyday life and who was forced to carry his prison cell with him everywhere he went. But one day, as he was watching the people laugh and point at him, he made a wish. Chris paused as she asked "What was the wish?". He told her that the man wished to be set free just for the day while one of his tormentors took his place. He paused again as she asked "So what happened to both of them?". Chris glanced at his watch and said "Look, it's been a pleasure talking to you like this. I've got to run right now. Next time I see you, I'll fill you in on the rest of the story". With a vague idea of what was to happen next, Chris headed for the bench where it had all started yesterday. He was not prepared for what awaited him there. As he sat the on the bench for the next 45 minutes, Stephen felt his mind clear as his limbs started to cooperate with him. "This has been sort of bad dream" he said aloud to no one as life once again began to flow through his system. But the longer he sat there, the more nervous excess energy began to take over. Like yesterday's experience but worse he thought as he began to squirm and twist on the bench. "Oh God, here we go again" he cried as the movements became more exaggerated. And then he spotted Chris. Still excited from talking to the woman he'd been so intimidated by in the past, Chris was almost up to the bench before he spotted Stephen squirming and fidgeting in his stained jogging outfit from yesterday. "Did you have a nice day?" Chris taunted as he sat down next to him. Then, noticing some yellow and brown pieces around Stephen's mouth, Chris asked sternly "How much did you take and how long ago?". Stephen replied that he'd taken the pills that had fallen to the ground yesterday when they encountered one another. Chris asked "All of them?" to which Stephen nodded yes as his movements increased. "Now, you know how bad PD is, don't you? Are you going to be rude again to someone you see shuffling or trembling?" Chris barked at him. Stephen just said "I'm so sorry...I didn't know" as tears filled his eyes and his body attempted to turn itself inside out. Chris had been away from his medicine for 24 hours and a feeling of doom and gloom clamped down over his mind as he watched Stephen's body suddenly relax and his facial features soften. Stephen, his body awoken from his bad dream, got up quickly off the bench and started running towards his house with no further words with Chris. . He'd call his family since they were certainly wondering where he'd gone to and get cleaned up out of this mess he was wearing. He couldn't believe what he had just gone through and prayed it would never happen again. Some friends called out to him as he ran past but one look at his appearance was enough to frighten children and small animals and he continued on. Chris was so weak that he couldn't get up right away. His medicine was back at the house but that seemed a lifetime away in terms of available energy. He began to shuffle and stumble down the path towards his apartment when he spotted her. It was too late to go another way and so without looking her direction, he kept going. She was shocked to see the fellow who had left her not too long ago in the middle of telling her a story stumbling down the path towards her. He acted as if he didn't want her to notice him but the tears rolling down his cheeks and his awkward gait told her what a difficult time he was having. "Hey" she said, her voice catching "I'd like to hear the rest of your story sometime". Chris said "Are you sure?". She looked at him for a second and stood up and walked over to him. As she took his hand, she said "Sure, I've got all the time in the world" as they walked along. She had decided that good people like this are rare and that she wanted to be part of a story that never ends.