Crutches

Hear the story read by the author.

In the town of Normal, Pennsylvania, there’s a little church at the corner of Wilson and Elm. Twenty-eight year-old Associate Pastor Michelle Tellum recently injured her right ankle playing on the church’s softball team. Her doctor gave her a pair of crutches and instructed her to avoid putting any weight on the ankle for two weeks.

Michelle quickly discovered that the crutches were more of an inconvenience than she at first anticipated. Previously, walking across the room had required the use of both her legs. Now it required the use of both her hands as well, which made carrying things a challenge. So on Monday morning it took Michelle about forty minutes longer than normal to get ready for work.

Another challenge was that Michelle could not drive without the use of her right foot. Fortunately she had a very considerate boyfriend named Ian who was happy to ferry her around. Well, perhaps “happy” was a bit of an exaggeration, but “willing” anyway.

Ian’s willingness began to waver as he sat on Michelle’s couch that morning watching the minutes tick by. Her occasional assurances from the bathroom that she was “almost ready” didn’t really help. Ian’s boss at the insurance office where he worked was pretty cool but that didn’t mean Ian could just stroll in whenever he wanted. However Michelle looked so pitiful struggling awkwardly around the apartment carrying things between her teeth that Ian kept his growing frustration to himself.

When they arrived at the church they encountered church secretary Tammy Billings coming out. “I’m going to pick up some office supplies,” she said. “Pastor O’Donnell is on a hospital visit. Will you be okay here alone?”

“Of course,” Michelle replied. “I’m going to finish that article I’m supposed to do for the newsletter.”

Ian escorted Michelle down to her office on the lower level. Navigating the stairs took some time. Michelle put both crutches under one arm, grabbed the hand rail and hopped down step by step. Ian offered to help but Michelle wanted to get used to doing it on her own.

Once she was safely ensconced behind her desk, Ian asked if she needed anything else. “Nope,” she said. “You’d better get to work. You’re going to be awfully late.”

Ian just smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

Three seconds after she heard his car pull out of the parking lot, Michelle realized what she should have asked him to do for her. Michelle’s brain required a certain fuel to perform its best in the morning: coffee. But the church’s coffee maker was upstairs in the main office. Michelle considered waiting until Tammy or Pastor O’Donnell returned, but she didn’t know how long that would be. And now that the thought of coffee had entered her mind she could think of nothing else.

“I can do this,” she declared. She grabbed her crutches and hopped her way up the stairs. She maneuvered across the social hall and into the main office where she poured herself a mug of steaming, delicious, energizing coffee. Then she remembered that she couldn’t carry it back to her office while using the crutches.

But Michelle was resourceful. There were dozens of folding chairs along one wall of the social hall. Michelle pushed several into a line from the office to the stairs leaving about four feet between each one. That way she could put the mug of coffee on a chair, take a step with her crutches, then move the coffee to the next chair until she reached the stairs.

It was a labor-intensive process but Michelle was pretty proud of her ingenuity. She successfully reached the stairs and sat down. She slid down one step at a time on her rear, bringing her mug along with her.

Next she had to navigate the hall from the stairs to her office. Here the most convenient chairs were in the classroom for the Guppies, the church’s pre-school Sunday school class. But as Michelle squeezed into the room between an art easel and a bin of toys, she lost her balance. Her crutches flailed wildly. One smacked into the cage of the Guppies’ classroom pet, Barry the Bunny.

Barry freaked out, hopping madly about the cage with a terrifying shriek. Meanwhile, Michelle managed to regain her balance without falling on her face.

Michelle had not known bunnies were cable of screaming. She cooed at the poor animal until it was placated. Then she gave it a rabbit treat. She hoped Barry was a forgiving bunny.

Once she’d set up a row of plastic kids’ chairs in the hall, she repeated her step-by-step process until she was back in her office with her mug. She had worked harder for that coffee than she’d ever worked for a beverage before. Which would make it all the more satisfying, she thought as she brought the mug to her lips.

The coffee was cold.

Cold coffee was not satisfying at all. Michelle sighed and headed back upstairs to refill the mug. Now that her chair chain was in place she figured this time she could get the coffee back to her office before it cooled down.

Which would most likely have been true if one of her crutches hadn’t caught the leg of a chair when she was half way across the social hall. The blow caused the mug to fall off the chair, spilling the coffee.

Michelle looked down at the puddle on the floor and took a deep, calming breath. “Tammy can clean that up when she gets back,” she mumbled petulantly. And where was Tammy anyway? How long did it take to get office supplies?

Michelle hobbled back to the main office. Just as she was about to refill her mug, she noticed a travel mug sitting on Pastor O’Donnell’s desk. A travel mug was perfect – she could carry it while using her crutches with no danger of spilling. She was certain Pastor O’Donnell wouldn’t mind her borrowing it given her condition.

It worked beautifully. However when she reached the bottom of the stairs she was startled to see Barry the Bunny looking at her from the middle of the hallway. When her crutch struck his cage it must have dislodged the latch allowing him to escape.

Michelle set the travel mug down and crouched, balancing on her good foot. “Come here, Barry,” she said in the most non-threatening voice she could. She held out her hand in a manner she hoped would suggest she had another rabbit treat.

Barry hopped cautiously toward her. Michelle remained as still and patient as possible. When Barry hopped within a couple feet, Michelle quickly reached out to grab him.

But the sudden motion threw her off balance again and she pitched forward. This time she did land on her face. Startled, Barry darted past her. She rolled over in time to see him hopping up the stairs toward the social hall.

Michelle pulled herself up and grabbed her crutches. She hopped up the stairs after Barry, though not quite as quickly as the spooked rabbit had. By the time she reached the top Barry was exploring the social hall.

Michelle swung the crutches under her arms and went after Barry. He scampered away. Michelle pursued. Barry used the chairs like a slalom course, weaving in and out. Michelle followed awkwardly, wondering if rabbits were capable of thoughts of vengeance.

She finally got the rabbit cornered, but then Barry doubled back and shot beneath her wounded foot.

Michelle spun and lunged after the fleeing beast. But she hadn’t realized how close she was to the puddle of spilled coffee. Her left crutch landed in the liquid and slid out from underneath her. Michelle flew into the air and came down flat on her back in the middle of the puddle.

Which is where Tammy found her upon returning a few minutes later, Barry the Bunny lapping at the coffee by Michelle’s ear.

“Are you okay?” Tammy asked.

“I think I sprained my wrist,” Michelle moaned.

Tammy managed to catch the now hyperactive bunny after a short but impressive chase. Then she helped Michelle back down to her office. Michelle changed into some sweats she kept in her desk while Tammy retrieved a mug of coffee for her.

As Ian drove Michelle home that night he asked, “so, did you get your article written?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Michelle said. “And can we stop at the department store? I need to get a travel mug.”