A Funny Turn. (Short story.)

So how do I tell this story? I think I should start with who I am, not in great detail as I’m not someone who changes the world. I’m not one of those ‘go-getter’ type of people but instead I float along on the tide. We get by, if something happens I adapt and get on with things. When my wife became ill I learnt as much as I could of her illness and fought so she got the help she needed. Our life changed and we adapted, I became her carer and took over bringing up our children.

My wife didn’t want her illness to impact on the kids childhood so weekdays they had evening clubs such as dance and at weekends we would go help out at a local stables. Life fell into a routine and that summer had been great. The wife’s mood had been good, I think it was helped by being around the horses, with the school holidays we’d spent most days down there.

Also Lou had moved in to stay, Lou was one of the riding instructors down at the stables and she quickly became an older sister to our girls plus company for my wife. As the summer turned to autumn though, I saw the triggers that my wife’s mood was getting ready to drop. Our life was ruled by these cycles of mood but over the years we knew following the good would come the drop.
So that’s me, nothing special. I smoke far too much and drink as bad, but not until the kids are asleep for the night. Now I don’t get rolling drunk but sit and drink to relax, over the years the amount has increased but so has my tolerance.
Last night thought things had got out of hand though. Our oldest son is in his twenties and doesn’t live at home. Since his mid-teens things had been difficult. So much toxic water had flowed under that bridge but that was another story. Anyway if it hadn’t been for Lou’s boyfriend things would have come to blows.

Now it was the next morning and I knew I was in the doghouse with the wife. It wasn’t that I’d been out of order but it’s hard for a mum to take a side when she knows there is no coming back this time. So off she’d gone with Lou and her boyfriend to take him back to his house while I was left with the girls to make Sunday dinner.
I’d got up not feeling great but put it down to the drink and a bad night’s sleep. Ignoring the fuzzy head and lack of energy I prepared the veg and put the meat joint in. That done I put my head in to check the girls in the living room before going outside for a cigarette. Closing the door to the house behind me I stood in the conservatory doorway and lit my cigarette.
It was then I began to feel worse, this was not the cig rush you get if you haven’t smoked for a while. I began to sweat and feel dizzy, my thoughts becoming fuzzier. Flicking my cig I took a step back to sit on the arm of the sofa just inside the conservatory door. The dog, that always followed me began to whine and jump up at me and I slumped to the side to lay half on the sofa, the dog trying to lick my face.
I went to push the dog away but my arm wouldn’t move, the dog was now getting more agitated. I tried to talk to him but my mouth felt full of cotton wool and I could feel one side of it begin to sag. I may have made some sort of moan but I couldn’t be sure. Looking down at my legs I could see them twitching.
The only thing under my control was my eyes, I looked up and through the closed glass doors to the house to see the girls in the living room watching TV, oblivious.
The dog continued to whine and lick my face as my panic grew. Was this it? Was this where my mind short circuited and erased my memories?

Then my youngest daughter stood there in the doorway calling me. I tried to tell her to help but only garbled sounds came out. She didn’t understand and after saying ‘Dad’ another couple of times she turned and walked away.
My mind screamed in panic, she didn’t realise, by the time anyone else found me it would be too late.

Then I heard her voice again, not from the living room as she returned to watch TV but from the hallway.

“Mummy, there’s something wrong with Dad.”

I could have cried, I would have if even my tear ducts had worked. My wife walked into view and after a second I saw the look on her face change to terror as she ran to where I was slumped, half on the sofa, half off. Behind her came Lou and her boyfriend, already his phone in his hand as he dialled for an ambulance.
My wife sat in front of me holding my hands, contact that I couldn’t feel as I looked in terror into her eyes. I ran through all our memories, not willing to let them disappear.
For ages it seemed we sat with eyes locked as she tried to voice words of comfort to calm my terror. Then came the sound of sirens and I finally managed to make my mouth work enough for a few words.
“Dog…. Out.” I slurred, the dog wouldn’t understand the people coming were here to help me, he would protect me and not let them near. I had to repeat it twice more but finally my wife understood and the dog was ordered outside and the door shut.
The ambulance men came through and with bags of equipment set to work, outside the dog was going crazy. In my mind I continued to run through who I was as the calm voice of the ambulance man began to give me instructions to calm down my panic.
I don’t know how long it was until I finally managed to give a slight squeeze to the ambulance man’s hand. In my mind things had split as I concentrated on his words while in the background my memories flew by in a life I didn’t want to lose.

I didn’t lose my memories and my mind that day, in generations past it would have been called having a funny turn.
Well it was far from funny.

Thanks for reading, comments and upvotes welcome.