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Drabble Corner

Michelle Swisz

Our Drabble for the month of February is, appropriately or not, on the topic of Romantic Complications.

Lust at the East Side Diner
by Shelly Sinton

His sexy eyes narrowed and a wanting grin spread across his face as he watched me sink my teeth into a succulent, sauerkraut-sopping Reuben sandwich. The blushing waitress said, "You two sure seem hungry for the same thing." Laughing, we chimed, "You aren’t kidding." Coveting his touch, I sighed as he bit into a perfectly crisp French fry. Mesmerized by his hungry stare, I slowly licked my fingers, knowing that he would soon voice his manly desires. He leaned forward. I anticipated his lips. And then he asked, "You aren’t going to eat all of that, are ya?"

You may have heard of invisible illnesses—I mean those conditions people have that are not apparent at all from casual appearances. When someone's got crutches or a cane or wheelchair, you've got a visual aid, but what if they have fibromyalgia or some other little-known and poorly understood internal condition (invisible illness), there may be no external, visible clue to its existence, without MRI (better than X-Ray) vision.

Someone in a wheelchair who begins to walk is making a pretty visible accomplishment. But someone with an invisible illness who is walking is making an invisible accomplishment. They're doing it every day, with or without an audience, and nearly always not only without applause but without even the simple acknowledgement of the fact that it is indeed an accomplishment. The magnitude and significance is not seen at all. Any witnesses see what isn't done in one's life, not the triumph that is made.

We've all made our invisible accomplishments—it may have been a struggle with an addiction that no one else knew about, or living with abuse that we couldn't fully admit even to ourselves, much less admit to someone else who could witness the meaning of our survival under such conditions.

Not only have we all made invisible accomplishments—we all make them every day. We don't know how to fully share with others what it is we're battling—most of what we fight we don't want to talk about. If we did talk, or write, about it, I think that we might all be better off.

Our topic for March 2004 is: invisible accomplishment

Here are the Guidelines for Drabbles submissions. By the way, if you don't get an acknowledgement of your submission within a day or so, please email me again— thanks!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of us!