Hidden Glee Stories: Artie's Accident

Artie's Accident

Beep! Beep! The alarm was quickly shut off, making the room almost silent. Artie dragged his body onto the left side of the bed to swing his legs swiftly over the edge. After putting his glasses on, he pulled his wheel chair towards him and slid on.

His wheel chair had been there for him for a good amount of time in his life now. But since yesterday, everything had changed for him. A mysterious Santa left him an expensive pair of robot legs that assisted Artie in walking upright. It was his biggest Christmas miracle.

Artie yelled, " Mom! Could you please come here and help me up?"

Artie's mother walked over from the kitchen in an instance. "Oh honey, this is so exciting. I can't wait to finally see," she sighed.

As his mom helped pick him up to strap him into his new contraption, Artie thought of how much this would help make things seems back to normal. He wrapped his fingers around the controls and looked at his mom.

With a slight tear in her eye, she asked, " Are you ready?"

Artie nodded his head and pressed the power button. The machine roared to life sounding like an arcade game. As he pressed the forward switch, the right leg moved.

His mother began to cry with joy. It was as if everything from his past had vanished and he could finally be one of the normal kids.

As Artie began to become emotional as well, the machine began to make unexpected noises. The legs stopped moving causing his dreams to fade.

"What happened? "Artie asked.

His mother looked around at the different buttons and tried to press them, but nothing happened.

Artie became even more worried and suggested, " Maybe if I got out we could try to fix it ".

"Of course," His mom now helped him back out and into his chair and said, " I think if I push the power button again it should work".

With hope in Arties eyes, he watched his mom try to bring back to life something that brought him the most joy in the longest time. But as she pressed the red button, the machine began to smoke and small sparks shot out.

They both gasped and rushed away into opposite corner of the room as the smoke died down. Artie looked up at his mother and she began to cry; this time they were not of joy. She reached to touch her son's shoulder but then refrained as if she couldn't even look at him.

"Mom ple-".

His mother left the room.

Artie wheeled over to his window and peered outside into the backyard like he did every morning. He looked at the old oak tree and saw that the wooden swing hanging off one of the large branches was holding on by its last string. Things had always been so eerily quiet since the accident in 5th grade.

It was a beautiful summer morning in Ohio. Artie was walking with his little sister Minnie in a field to pick daisy's for their mother before breakfast. He loved his sister with all his heart even though she had only been in the family for five years. She was adopted from an orphanage in China when she was eight months old. Minnie loved Artie as well and always could count on him to watch over her.

"Minnie we have to go walk back now if we want to surprise mommy before she gets up," Artie told his sister softly.

She grabbed her basket of flowers with one her small hands and placed the other in Arties. As they walked back north towards town, Artie decided it would be a good idea to cut through the forest on the train trestle over the creek to cut down on time. His mother would've grounded him for life if she found out he had taken his sister outside with out her knowing.

When they reached the opening of the trees, Artie told his sister to hold tight onto his hand and be extra careful because they would be high above the ground. Artie was afraid of heights especially on the trestle. The water in the creek was all dried up from the heat revealing jagged rocks on the bottom. They made their way slowly at first until Artie made the fatal mistake of stepping in the wrong spot.

Crack!

Artie looked down by his foot to see he had stepped on a wasp nest. Wasps began to quickly fly out of the nest and straight to him and Minnie. She screamed as Artie yelled for them to run away. But as Minnie started to swat the bees away she slipped off the side of the tracks. Artie saw and reached out for his sister. He barely touched her hand but he tripped and flew over the edge. He blacked out.

When he awoke he was in the hospital and he felt strange. He looked at his arms. There were gashes everywhere. He looked to his right. His mother was hunched over with her face in her hands, crying.

"Mom?" Artie said in pain.

Her head shot up and she looked at her son with hope in her eyes. "Can I get a nurse in here? He is awake!" she yelled.

As nurses rushed in, Artie felt the urge to get up and hug his mom, but something was different. His legs would not move.

That day Artie was struck with the news that when he fell of the trestle, he landing just right on his spine making him paralyzed from the waist down. His sister hit her head and died instantly.

For several months Artie couldn't stand himself. Trying to learn how to work his new wheelchair reminded him of how irresponsible he had been. His sister's death was riding on his shoulder every time he sat in his chair.

Ever since the accident and Artie explained what happened, his mother couldn't look at him. She could barely even speak to him without bursting into tears. He was the reminder of his little sister's death. The little sisters that he promised to always watch over and protect. His mother's angel was gone and all she had was the boy that wasn't able to save her.

As Artie still stared at the oak tree in his backyard he thought of how he was supposed to cheer his mother up. She had finally gone back to normal and finding out the news that her son would have a chance to walk again brought her as much joy as it did to him. A tear rolled down his face and splashed onto the armrest of his chair.

"I guess this is how things are always going to be," Artie thought.