Weekend Freewrite -11/23/2019 - Single Prompt Option: Successful (and, The Posture of Innocence, day 32)

After 22 hours of work and a four-hour nap, Captain Lee makes it to a very important personal appointment ...

To get totally caught up on The Posture of Innocence, here are the prologue, day 1, day 2, day 3, day 3.5, day 4, day 4.5, day 5, day 5.5, day 6, day 7, day 7.5, day 8, day 9, day 9.5, day 10, day 10.5, day 11, day 11.5, day 12, day 12.5, day 13, day 13.5, day 14, day 15, day 16, day 16.5, day 17, day 18, day 19, day 19.5, day 20, day 20.5, day 21, day 22, day 22.5, day 23, day 23.5, day 24, day 24.5, day 25, day 25.5, day 26, day 26.5, day 27, day 27.5, day 28, day 28.5, day 29, day 29.5, day 30, day 30.5, day 31, and day 31.5!

Yet no matter how tired Captain Lee was, there was one appointment he strove not to miss: his therapy was on Thursday evenings at 7:30. He woke at 6:30pm, showered, changed, and made it on time.

“Well, that was quite a situation, Colonel Lee,” said Captain Josiah Thompson, the therapist whose solemn calling it was to work with some of the highest-functioning veterans with PTSD in Virginia. “I always feel like I know the who, the what, the when, the where, the why, and the how of every situation you work with. There is nothing wrong with your intellect and memory that 12 hours of sleep won't fix.”

“Some encouraging news, at least,” the police captain now once again in his role as Army colonel responded.

Captain Thompson gave a small sigh, and looked again through the notes he had made in preparation for the session.

“Colonel Lee, you present me with a unique set of challenges,” he said. “You are among the most self-aware men I have ever had the honor to work with. You know where your triggers are, and the limits of your endurance, even adjusted for your age. You can do 22 hours safely, but not 24. You can go up that road in the Blue Ridge neighborhood exactly so far, and no farther. You know precisely how you feel about this, that, and the other thing, and you have no problem admitting it to me or anyone else who might have reason to know.

“Here is the sum of the challenges, Colonel: you are such a grand tactician that you may never win the war.”

Colonel Lee smiled slightly.

“I suppose I am the second Colonel Lee in my family presented that dilemma.”

“Yes, the comparison is fair,” Captain Thompson said. “You have in common with your great-great-great-uncle that you are exceedingly successful in coping with all the losses life has thrown at you. Yet you may still lose the war. And, fittingly, it just happens to be a great-great-grandchild of one of the United States Colored Troops come to tell you.”

Day 32.5 is up