Friday, April 08, 2011

100 Word Challenge: You're Crazy

Velvet Verbosity's 100 Word Challenge is proud to announce it has been designated an essential service and will remain active during any government shutdown. This week's word is "broken", and my story is called "You're Crazy".







The receptionist was stretching, reaching up to get my chart. I watched the fabric of her pink scrubs as it pulled tightly. I could tell what kind of underwear she had on.

I'm not crazy, I thought.

The blonde took the folder down. There were brightly colored letter stickers along the edge. One stood for my last name, but what did the others mean? Did they indicate how nutty I was?

I wanted to say I wasn't crazy.

She saw what she needed, and put the sheaf of papers down.

"Your copayment is 20 dollars," she said. She sounded bored.












Author's Note: Mental illness has touched my family numerous times, as I expect it has most of your families as well. Please note that the preceding is a work of fiction, and it is a character using the word "crazy", not me or anyone I know. Absolutely no disrespect is expressed or implied towards the mentally ill or those who love them by the use of the word " crazy". As I said, I is one of those touched by mental illness.

10 comments:

  1. No disclaimer need dude. I call myself regular crazy(anxiety disorder). It disarms people.

    I like the imagery. It puts me in the room.

    Have a good weekend, Michael

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  2. I can imagine many of us have been in this exact situation. No apologies needed.

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  3. I hear you - we're all broken in some way. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. This was a great character piece. You learn so much about him from his own paranoia about what others might think about him. The things we say to ourselves in the darkest recesses of our mind can be so punishing!

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  5. Stopping by from the The 100 Word Challenge. Great story. I would love to read more. Hey, crazy is what makes the world go round.

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  6. The most seemingly mundane details can convey so much. This was a great piece.

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  7. Thank you all for the kind words.

    I felt like the disclaimer is necessary because I think "crazy" is an unkind word when referring to the mentally I'll, and I just wanted to make clear how I felt.

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  8. Very descriptive...brings the reader right into the scene.

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  9. I really like this. Been there, wondered the same thing.

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  10. You've captured well the paradox inherent in many mental illnesses. The mind must diagnose and repair itself, but if it is broken or sick, how can it?

    This also semi-reminds me of when I was going through an ugly divorce and experiencing a lot of nausea from the strife and anxiety. I went to a clinic to see if there was something they could give me for the nausea, and they treated me as though I was crazy. It was completely terrifying.

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