The Thingys: Chapter 1

“Come on, light.  Change, please.”  Miriam was tired.  She had stopped at a red light at a busy intersection.  It was lunch time for the rest of the city, but she had gotten off early, and she wanted to take a nap.  “No.  No.  You, pedestrian, don’t push that crosswalk button yet.  Ugh.  Calm down, Miri, you’re just tired.  Be happy that he’s actually using the crosswalk and not just jumping out into traffic.”  Miriam tapped her fingers on the steering wheel.  The light changed from red to green.  “Finally. Here we go.”

Miriam pulled into the driveway and breathed a sigh of relief.  She stepped out into the July steam and jogged across the grass to the front door. Once inside, she gently shut the door behind her.  She walked past the large square mirror she used to check her face each morning before work. The television was so loud that she had to raise her voice to overcome its volume. Why is mom watching one of those children’s programs?she thought.

Anna was standing in one corner of the living room, near the computer.  She waved, then put her finger to her lips.  She squinted her eyes and shook her head back and forth.

“What?”  Miriam questioned.

“Shh.”

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

Anna pointed to her favorite chair, a brown La-Z-Boy.  “All those kids, they threw up in my purse.”

Miriam glanced around the room. “Kids? What? There’s no kids in here.” Miriam sprinted toward the chair. She grabbed the purse and unzipped it. “And nobody threw up in your purse.  Here, look.” She handed the purse to her mother.

“No.  Ew.”  Anna pinched her nose.  She turned her face away from the bag.  “You don’t smell that, Miri?”

“No.  Mom, there aren’t any kids here!”

“OK.  If you want to pretend like you don’t see ‘em running all over the place.  Come on, everybody!  Come on!  Everybody lay down and watch tv!  Come on!” Anna walked around the room, waving her arms in an effort to gather the imaginary children.

Miriam didn’t waste time shedding a tear.  “No, you come on, mom.  There’s nobody here but me and you.  We’re going to the clinic.”

“Don’t open the front door!  There’s a little girl on the porch.  If you open the door, she’ll come in, too.”

Miriam knew exactly where to take her mother, so into the car they went.  Miriam was surprised that Anna went as easily as she did.  She didn’t put up a fuss or even question what Miriam was doing.  Miriam thanked God that they had a mental health center in town that was affiliated with a prominent university. Hopefully, they can see her while she’s in this state of mind.

It was a short drive to the building. Miriam kept looking over to her mother, who sat in the passenger’s seat. She kept her head down. Miriam asked if she was OK. She shook her head quickly up and down.

The clinic was a one-story, non-descript brick building. The two walked in and looked all around.  The waiting area was spacious.  There was carpet on the floor.  It didn’t feel cold and lonely — like Miriam imagined a mental health clinic would feel.  There was an elderly couple sitting near the front desk, too close for comfort.  Miriam knew they would be able to hear every detail of what should have been a confidential conversation. They must be here for a similar reason, she thought, but I’d still like to have some privacy.

They approached the front desk, and Miriam’s eyes filled with tears.

“Hi.”  She tried to whisper.  “She needs to see a psychiatrist.”  She gestured toward her mother, who stood behind, looking at the floor.  There were two women behind the desk.  One of the women quickly walked to the back and disappeared behind a set of double doors.  The one who remained looked up.

“Hello.” 

“Hi.”  Miriam half-smiled and blinked, trying to prevent the tears from escaping.  “My mom needs to see a doctor.”

“Do you have an appointment?” 

“No.”

“Has she seen one of our doctors before?” 

“No.”

“Come to the side window.”  She extended a card.  “You need to call this number to make an appointment.”

Miriam leaned in. “Um, she’s hallucinating.”

“I’m sorry. We don’t take walk-ins. If you need to see someone right away, you’ll need to go over to the hospital.”

Miriam was now wiping at a steady trickle of tears with the back of her hand.  She looked back to her mother.  Miriam took the card.
“Thank you.”

Miriam walked over to Anna and put an arm around her shoulders. She had tried to push the thought to the back of her mind, but she had known this day would come.