24 Hour Short Story Challenge No. 6 - A True Companion
Source: http://clipsart.com
He was a friend - a true friend in every sense of the word. He had been there with her for almost as long as she could remember being in this place, guiding her every step of the way.
She turned to talk to him as she was laying in the bed.
"Why is it that you don't want to go? That you just stay with me all of the time?"
He smiled: "Don't you know you're worth it? I don't need to go outside. I just want to hang around with you!"
It was kind of weird - he wasn't like other monkeys. Other monkeys scratched, they smelt and usually left urine all over the floor. He was soft - like a cuddly toy. Every once in a while she would reach out and pat him and he would snuggle up to the embrace.
He cuddled up to her: "Tell me more about yourself from the younger years."
She looked out the window and away from him as she talked.
"I had the classic happy childhood I suppose, but as I got older there was pressure from my father. I needed to study and study hard, get good grades, be the best. If I didn't have top marks, I wasn't good enough."
The monkey looked at her with his soft eyes: "That must have been hard for you."
"I enjoyed the challenge at first - to be the best. But there were others in my grade at school who were hard and spiteful over the competition. I suspect they also got this pressure from home. There were competitions to be the best student - if I didn't win, my father would be angry."
"So how did that affect you?"
"As time went on, I did nothing else but study. That was my life. I didn't have friends, I didn't go out. I just stayed home and studied."
The sweet little monkey reached out and touched her cheek. "It's OK, you don't need to go on if you don't want to."
"That's OK. My father never really did anything wrong. He never hit me or hurt me or even yelled. When he was angry he would go silent and not talk to me. Eventually, he would tell me what I had to do to succeed and it was for my benefit. Whatever I did, it was never enough for him."
She hugged the monkey. "Thanks for listening. Anyway - I did what he wanted. I got into the top university and I've worked my way through to my Doctorate with Research. All these years - I've worked with the goal of getting him to tell me I did well or I was good enough for him. It was never enough..."
The psychiatrist was talking to a fellow doctor as they stood at the door and the therapist came out of the room.
The psychiatrist looked to the therapist: "Morning Anne - how did you go?"
"She still starting to look at some of issues that have contributed to her current condition, but I believe she is still in a delusional state." The therapist turned and talked to the visiting doctor: "this patient is actually a PHD of biochemistry who normally works in research. She has no psychiatric history, but recently her father died and it has had led her to a severe breakdown."
"You said she is delusional, yet she is able to talk to you."
"Actually, she wasn't talking to me. One of the other therapists gave her a stuffed toy monkey for hug therapy. Now, whenever she talks, she talks to the monkey and she has conversations with it. When I ask her questions, she believes it's the monkey talking."
The doctor shook his head, this was going to take a lot of time to heal.
Thank you to @mctiller for the opportunity to participate in this competition.
For anyone else who wants to give it a go, here's the link:
https://steemit.com/twentyfourhourshortstory/@mctiller/writers-win-5-steem-about-usd20-in-the-24-hour-short-story-contest-topic-6-for-february-27