Believable Fiction Workshop Exercises

Big Mike's Prompts - Encouragement

I remember driving along a section of Garland Road, every day, several times a day, for months upon months.  Usually there was traffic and "down time" involved, and it was then I found myself confined with my thoughts.  The sounds on the radio couldn't be turned loud enough to drown my thoughts that day.

I cried to God out loud, knowing He'd hear me if I asked in my head, but wanting to hear the sound of the question, to verify its authenticity. 

"Why didn't my life work out like everyone else's?  Why couldn't I find love, have a baby, and a family of my own?  Why couldn't I have had some time out of the hustle and bustle of the rat-earning race, and had a child, and known that feeling of love?  Why did you leave me out God?  I won't ever get that in my life now!  I'll be driving to work for a pittance for the rest of my life."

The sound of the words brought tears, making me feel worse because of hearing the pain in my voice.  It was real, and so was my left-out feeling.  I wiped the tears from my eyes in the two blocks remaining before I arrived home.  My life had become a road routine, and I felt emotionally alone.

I was at the end of an emotionally draining year. 
I resigned as a teacher, and found a job as an assistant manager at an apartment complex on the bay.  I loved the job, but became compulsive about it.  Drastic mood swings made me unpredictable to those around me.  Since I had had a total hysterectomy the year before, I consulted my gynocologist, who listened and quickly referred me to a psychiatrist.  During the first appointment, the docotor diagnosed me as manic-depressive.  I didn't really know what it meant, but I knew it wasn't good.  I took his prescription, but my symptoms were snowballing.

Coming back home to my apartment after walking the apartment complex at 2:00 am checking lights (self-appointed task), I heard voices of men, coming distinctly from just outside my apartment.  I was frightened, as these weren't people coming in from a party and being loud, but two voices in a conversation from which one could only catch phrases.  I called the police.

The officer lived on the complex, and took the information, but indicated there was nothing there and I was working too hard.  Eventually, I realized an auditory hallucination had taken me over.  The whole thing was real to me.  I was indeed paranoid. 

I realized I probably shouldn't be living by myself.  The apartment complex was sold about that time, and I was offered a job in Galveston, which I took great expense to investigate.  Eventually, I realized that moving home with my mother, in Dallas, would be the best thing for me.  When reality shatters, you need your family's support.

My mother drove to South Texas, and helped me get my possessions boxed up and shipped to Dallas.  I moved  in with my mother and her new husband.  My symptomology was too much for my step-father, who was in his late 70s, and soon I had a small apartment on my own.  Mom took me to all my numerous psychiatrist's appointments, purchased my medicine, and did everything to help, except swallow the pills for me.

I applied for a job at "Blockbuster Video," but found using their computer, with no previous skill, too much of a challenge.  I quit after a month.  Many months later, I read a news article that indicated the position I filled was due to a robbery and death of an employee.  I was totally out of touch with the world around me.

Next, I applied at a craft store as a cashier.  My passion for crafts were one activity that my "mood disorder" had not extinguished.  I thought I'd enjoy the atmosphere, and dealing with others who shared the love of creating for the home.  Mostly, I sttod at the cash register for hours on end.  My manager said I had a very creative way of recording transactions.  He knew I wasn't stealing, but the register never balanced.  The week before Halloween, the atmosphere in the store was manic, rude people, displays destroyed.  I couldn't stand the feeling that surrounded me at work, and I quit.  I couldn't get a job and keep it.  I didn't feel good about myself, and the bipolar meetings weren't expecially helping.  I took all the medication I was prescribed, and it left me as less capable than I had ever been.

Since beginning to take Lithium for my manic-depression, I had gained 75 pounds.  I spent the winter watching the leaves outside my patio window  change colors and fall into the little creek which carried no water.  Government help takes forever to kick in, and I went to many sessions for help and general job training during that time.  In the spring, I applied for a job at a vet clinic a few blocks away from my apartment.  Soon the government aid arrived, and I applied to take vet tech classes at the community college across town.

I was swimming in side effects from the various and many medications I was on.  I couldn't think straight.  My body bulk had increased by a third.  I had no friends and no social life.  When I was able to think about it, my life seemed to be going backwards.  If I ever did get my vet tech license, I would never make as much as I had as a teacher.

But there were advantages to the no homework life style too.  I learned from the animals.  They all have lots of unconditional love to give, and pets in the clinic needed the extra care which I was always so ready to give.  But I was broke, friendless, and all my dreams of what the future held for me had been dashed.  I couldn't dream of a future that could be right.

Ten years have passed since my diagnosis.  I've learned many things about bipolar disorder, one thing being that it doesn't have to be a handicap.  There are times when symptoms are overwhelming, and that's when you get intensive help.  Having a good psychiatrist is important, because you need to communicate.  I had a disagreemnt with more than one psychiatrist.  I've learned the importance of speaking my mind.  I've learned that even though I am "sick," I am not less of a person.

I was raised Catholic, but consider myself more a spiritual person now.  I don't have to know all the answers to life's problems, but I do take comfort in knowing there is a power greater than myself who loves me, and will take care of me and my future plans better than I can myself.