Strayed from Normalcy, Never Went Back

Quote Prompt for November 2023 - I've strayed as far from normal now, I'll never find my way back. And the truth is I no longer want to. - Alyson Noel


Normalcy: What is normal? Do you have to compete with your neighbors next door or down the street? When you know that you're not up for it, do you have to have kids? Even when you can't afford it, do you have to own a house? Even when people demand what they want you to do, is it normal not to do it?

Barry Normal, an ordinary man was pushed into being what was expected of him. Living up to their expectations created a hardship in his life. His ambition was to be a scientific inventor. He wanted to solve problems with issues that would make it easier for people to live with. Then, one day, he strayed away into a hemisphere, or realm of uniqueness which would put him on a path to discovery. Many people complained to his assistant, Sarah Wright, about wanting a wheelchair that would give voice to their ailments, and help them recover. This was a bit ridiculous, but he didn't look at it that way.

Sarah dealt with much prattle about this sort of thing. She immediately turned it over to Barry Normal, disbelieving that someone would be thinking upon those lines. Barry Normal took it upon himself to present his idea in front of medical professionals. Ridiculous and unheard of, they were thinking that his ideas were a bit namby pamby.

Did the medical professionals dissuade him? Not! He faced dilemmas trying to put together intelligent, operational, wheelchairs into the hands of those who needed them. He decided to proceed with his ideas anyway. His first idea was to contact those who were crippled and couldn't walk. His attention was focused on a young girl who was a quadriplegic. Doctors told her that she was beyond help. By using her voice inside of a recorder, he thought that he could remedy the situation. Her recorded voice was attached to the wheel of a wheelchair. Since the wheel moved around and around, he thought this was the best place to start. It was his hope that he could bring hope and inspiration to this young girl, primarily. She was nine years old, and her name was Lilac Blooming. Then, on the side of the wheelchair, he attached a stuffed animal, which was a zebra. Because a Zebra has black and white stripes, the words, "By His stripes, we are healed" were put there. The back had a photo of the cutest puppy anyone had ever seen. Puppies have unconditional love, which was the reason behind all of this. Then, he put on a radio gadget that was full of feel-good music, the best there ever was. Thinking positively, he put all these in order to emotionally lift up a young girl's spirits. He took the wheelchair over to Lilac Blooming's place.

When the wheelchair was brought over to her place of residence, she squealed with delight. His hopes were high that his experiment would work. To get up and walk, or at least give it a go, listening to positive reinforcements would be a tool in getting her motivated to do so. Every time she showed up, he could tell that these attachments were beginning to work because of the smile that appeared on her face. This was indeed a remarkable sign of making progress. To get her motivated, he was hoping that she would get the drive and energy needed. This way she just may wind up doing things that she normally wouldn't do.

Before she had the determination to get out of her comfort zone, a few months had gone by. Removing an object was Barry's next step. He took away the puppy's photo, however, that wasn't the end of it. Rather than get rid of it, he attached it to a little red wagon in front of her to pull the wheelchair. The puppy would give a yelp of approval every time she did something good. What could be more wonderful than that? Lilac decided that she wanted to play with the imaginary puppy. She made an effort by trying to lift her leg up, which was extremely difficult. Slowly, with much effort, she was able to lift up her leg. This was a huge accomplishment. She contacted Dr. Barry Normal about this, and he was positively certain that she was making progress. The music box made her joyful enough that she wished she could dance. More than anything, she wanted to move her body right along to the beat of the music. She was a superstar in her imagination. Bringing color to her beautiful eyes, she was singing and dancing to what she enjoyed. She looked at her Zebra and began to hold it. It gave her a healing touch of determination, which made her able to move her arm a bit. The fact that she could actually feel it move, she rejoiced, which gave her the desire to try even harder. By putting forth the effort, she was able to lift her arm higher. Because she was able to do it, it brought her relief. A month later her legs began to move. Before long she was able to stand up.

Lilac Blooming was living up to her name. To see her bloom before everyone's eyes was refreshing. Her remarkable progress stemmed from Dr. Barry Normal, and his assistant, Sarah Wright.

Three years went by. Lilac was now twelve years old. On this day, Monday, January 11, 1862, was rather a rough day for her. The feel-good music in her music box began to play sad songs. She didn't feel like doing any leg lifts to help herself. She was feeling less confident and a bit mopey. She was very tired and wanted to get some sleep. As a result, she became more irritable because noises seemed to bother her. She went to her room and didn't come out. It was a deep concern for both Dr. Barry Normal and his assistant, Sarah Wright, once they learned about her isolation. They put their heads together and came up with another plan.

Barry asked a question, "How do we get this music box working again?" What was disappearing was her beautiful smile. He thought that he could get her a real live puppy to love, and would love her back unconditionally. Everyone told Lilac to snap out of her way of thinking: they pushed her to change her methods by persuading her to challenge herself into believing that she could walk when she couldn't. Devoid of frustration, they told her that she needed to have a normal life. This began her journey to stray away and never return back to normalcy.

Barry and Sarah asked the question, "What is normalcy, exactly?" There are lots of ideas going around about that. Next on their mind was to have Lilac go into therapy. To restore the feeling back to her legs, what could they possibly do? Perhaps some stretching exercises and a massage would be an excellent idea for her. One can only hope that, with the help of medical professionals and a puppy, it would be the trick to solving the problem. They bought her a medium-sized dog that was cute and loveable.

They took the puppy over to Lilac's house the next day. They knocked on her door and said that they had a huge surprise for her. When the door opened, the puppy ran straight to Lilac with puppy kisses and cuddles. Then it let out a joyous bark. The puppy's color was golden brown, like bronze, gentle, and playful too. It didn't take long for her smile to return.

Lilac's willpower and dedication to try therapy paid off in the long run. Lifting her hands, even for a little bit, was hard for her. Since nothing was happening at this point, she did plenty of grunting and cursing. "Why did this happen to me?" "It's not fair, I am much too young for this." Then, without even thinking about it, her little pinky finger lifted up, as if to inform her that it's okay, you will be all right. This puppy will help you get joy back into your life. Not knowing exactly what it did, her other fingers and thumbs began to rise. When this occurred, Barry and Sarah were with her. They looked at each other with the hope that she would walk again.

Working on her legs was the next phase of her therapy. Rubbing her legs with lotion after a massage, and using a hairdryer to warm them up, they gently lifted her legs a little bit further each time. A miracle took place after many hours of straining. She could lift her legs high above her head. Getting her to walk was the next huge step. They brought Nigel Hummingworth, Lilac's brother, over to see her. Her eyes brightened up when she saw him. He gave her positive reinforcements after her workouts. He helped her up by getting her into the wheelchair. After this, he wheeled her over to a place that had straps. By grabbing onto the straps, she had to pull herself up. Once this was done, she needed to grab onto the railings to help her move her legs. This went on until her birthday, January 11, 1863. At this time, she was thirteen years old. She was given a special gift; she walked for the very first time. Without hesitation, Lilac brilliantly accepted this gift. Her faith and determination made this all possible.

The number thirteen was considered to be unlucky by many people. The number thirteen was the best number ever, according to Lilac, Nigel, Barry, and Sarah. With pure joy, she began to run in amazement. Conquering what everyone thought was an impossibility, she felt extraordinarily well. Beyond anything else, she had faith that she would be able to defeat the quadriplegic diagnosis. It was unknown why she became that way. Until now, she wouldn't talk about it. She fell after reaching up into a cupboard. Afraid that she would be blamed, she was too embarrassed to mention it. She went down after feeling dizzy.

Lilac put Dr. Barry Normal and his assistant, Sarah Write on a pedestal. Thinking of something special to add to a wheelchair, she was excited that he was a scientific inventor. All this girl needed was to have that kind of encouragement. Now, being a teenager brought happiness and fulfillment back into her life. She wanted to do something special to help others get through what she went through so that they wouldn't have to suffer from inactivity. For the help that she acquired, she had tremendous gratitude.

The moral of this story: You can believe in something small, and turn it into something big. In this case, for Lilac, her inspirational role models were her doctor, his assistant, and her brother. All three of them believed in her. Her brother Nigel had as much faith in her as she had in herself. Helping people in wheelchairs get back to a normal life was Barry Normal's sole purpose for being a scientific inventor. Believing that she could accomplish the impossible, Lilac strayed away from normalcy. What everyone thought was normal she never returned to. They put her into a depressed state of mind by feeding her with negativity. No one can assume that everybody has to act the same way as everybody else. Whatever normal is, was irrelevant to Lilac.

Normalcy was a relevancy that she didn't want any part of. She would say, "Why can't I be different from the norm?" If you believe that it can be done, any handicap can be overcome if you do the work. I want to prove that I am different: I did not give up, I had no doubt, I received a miracle of healing.

2000 Words


Written by Anna Marie Carlson
Preferred Author
Sunday, November 19, 2023