A Second Chance

         As she walked down the street to the park, Veronica was so happy she could hardly keep from singing. The treatments worked. All those months of pain and suffering had been worth it. This was the first time, two hundred years; she was able to walk in the sunshine. She had forgotten how wonderfully warm it felt.

         She walked through the park gates, down to the lake and sat on the stone bench. It was a Saturday and the park was filled with people enjoying the first warm day of spring. There were ducks and swans on the lake and a robin was hopping on the grass only a few feet away.

         “Ronnie, what have you done?” Doctor David Flanders ran up to her. “It’s much too soon for you to be out here.”

         “It’s all right, David. I’m fine.” She smiled and kissed him as he sat down next to her.

         “No, it’s not all right. You must come back now.”

         "Please, just a little longer, I’m enjoying this so much.”

         “You must do this gradually. Look at your arm.”

         Veronica looked down. The skin of her arm, which had been a translucent white, was now bright red and begining to blister.

         “The skin on your face is burning too. Come back now, before it gets any worse. I have some ointment we can put on it."

         Reluctantly she stood to her feet. As they walked back to David’s apartment, she kept looking back over her shoulder to the park. “I promise you,” David said. “Someday you will be able to sit in the park as long as you wish, but for now you must be patient.”




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ID: 896794   (Rated: 13+) Daily Flash Fiction Challenge  Enter your story of 300 words or less. Note new starting time! by arakun the twisted raccoon