Ben's Chair

It was one of those hot dusty country days where the humidity hangs thick in the air but the sky never rains.  Lightning flashed on the horizon, teasing the senses into thinking relief was near yet storms never came.  Ben wiped the sweat from his brow with a soggy bandana and shoved it into his back pocket.

"Let's go for a walk, Kip," he said, patting the head of his patient friend, a panting golden retriever lounging in the shade.

Kip dragged himself to his feet and followed Ben down the driveway and along the deserted country road.  As they walked, Ben confided to Kip his dreams of going to the city and getting away from the family farm. 

The boy and his dog jumped to the side as a car full of giggling girls blew past, stopped, and backed up.  "Hey, Ben," one of the girls called sweetly, "wanna go into town with us?"  She flipped her hair and looked at him seductively.  Ben just raised an eyebrow and shook his head. 

"Scared?" one of the girls taunted?

"Scared of gi...r..ls!" another one sang out.

The engine revved and the car took off with a jolt leaving Ben and his dog in a cloud of dust.

"Stupid girls," Ben mumbled, going on.

The teenager kicked a stone along the road.  Frustrated with his thoughts he picked it up and threw it at a nearby tree.  "Missed," he groaned, bending to pick up another.  This time his missile hit the target and fell to the ground with a sharp metallic clink.

"Come on, Kip," he said.  "Let's go investigate."

Approaching the tree Ben saw a wheelchair hidden in the grass at the edge of the field.  A closer look yielded evidence that the chair had long since been abandoned.  The spokes of the wheels were rusty, the upholstery torn and weathered by alternating seasons of heat and cold.

The possibilities spun through Ben's mind like a lottery wheel, stopping on an old forgotten memory of a prayer meeting he'd attended as a child.  A visiting preacher had come to town and everyone went to see him.

"He can heal people of terrible diseases and deformities," he recalled his mother's words.

His father was less convinced of the credibility of such claims and held back.  "I don't know, Mavis," he argued.  "I don't know how any man could have the power to heal."

"Benjamin, if you aren't coming, I'm taking little Ben myself.  If there's even a little bit of hope, I want to give him a chance," his mother stood her ground.

The memory faded and Ben felt oddly confused.  Turning the wheelchair over his eyes fell on the back of the seat.  Faded letters unmistakably spelled his name.  Ben sunk to his knees and wept, burying his face in Kip's neck as he hugged him as much for support as comfort.

When the tears stopped, Ben wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, leaving damp muddy streaks in the dust that had collected on his cheeks.  "Let's go home, boy," he said softly in the dog's ear.  "Let's go home and find some answers."

527 words

Writer's Cramp Prompt:  January 31-February 1, 2008:  You are walking your dog when you come to a field with nobody around, yet there is a wheelchair tipped over on its side in the middle of the field. Tell the story of how it got there. 


:::TO BE EXPANDED:::