Johann Quisumbing

A paralytic’s adventure by JQuisumbing

Jake opened his eyes and was confused to find that he was staring up at a Summer sky. As his eyes spanned that vast blue yonder, he realized his neck was not straining like one who had been looking straight up for some time. Obviously, he was lying down outside but he didn’t remember how. He felt a little dazed. Add to that, his back and shoulders were sore. He gazed a little to his left and saw that he was lying on the steep slope of the shoulder of his brother’s driveway. He peered down his chest and found that his left knee was propped up against the backrest of the gray vinyl seat of his electric mobility scooter which was lying on its side. His ankle was resting on the armrest with his barefoot pointing up. His first thought was, ‘Where the heck did his sandal fly to?’ Then it hit him.

Jake was coming back from a mom & pop’s grocery store which was about 2 miles away from his brother’s vacation house in Maple Valley, Washington. It was situated in a closed-in forest at the tail end of a single road countryside neighborhood. The house itself was two storey, the lower of which was partially built into a slope next to the Cedar River. Jake’s room was on the upper level adjacent to the garage. Normally, he would have driven his scooter into the garage, set it up for charging then transferred to a smaller powerchair. But his routine will not go as planned.

The stuff that Jake purchased at the store included a gallon of Rocky Road ice cream which he surmised was already melting due to the Summer heat. It was this thought that was foremost in his mind when he made his turn onto the driveway. The property closest to the private road was about two feet lower which means that the head of the driveway had to be built up with compacted gravel to meet the road. The sloped shoulders of the driveway were shored up with layers of loosely laid smooth river pebbles. 

Preoccupied, he cut the corner way too close to the soft shoulder. When his right wheels went over the loose pebbles, the shored up layers collapsed under it causing the scooter as well as himself to tilt and topple over. By habit, Jake turned his body at the last second so that he landed on his back to protect his fragile arms. He didn’t know how long he was out. So, now he found himself in a precarious position with the lower half of his body being higher than his torso. Ignoring the soreness, he slowly pivoted to right himself then rested against his scooter. The maneuver caused more of the loose pebbles to trickle down, bringing him and everything else to the bottom of the driveway’s gully. 

Jake didn’t take too long to decide his only course of action. He couldn’t wait there hoping a neighbor would drive by and see him in the ditch. Nor could he wait for any family. They were about fifteen miles up river leisurely floating on bright orange inflatables. He expected them to land at their sandy beach fronting the house not for several hours yet. Besides, the ice cream would have melted by then. So, he decided to crawl. He looked toward the house. From the bottom of the ditch, he could make out the garage and the side window of his apartment. The lower main house, the part that jutted out from the hill, was mostly obscured by an old elm and tall grass. If he could walk, then the garage would be his closest target. But he can’t walk and the prospect of crawling on his belly especially on a rough gravel driveway would be, in his mind, quite painful. So, he’ll aim for the main house. He figured he had to crawl about 80 yards to the front door.

Jake then reached out to the grocery bag which fell out of the basket. He pulled out the tub of ice cream which was still in its plastic bag and still frozen. The rest were mostly cans and dry goods which could be left behind. 

Jake took a deep breath and let himself tip over on his side so that he could roll onto his belly. Grasping the plastic bag with his teeth, he uncomfortably got onto his elbows and started to waddle like a duck. Of course, a duck didn’t have to drag behind its paralyzed lower half. He followed the twenty foot gully which was thankfully dry until it emptied to a grassy depression. When one of his elbows sunk into a soggy tuft of tall grass, he hesitated. He knew that any rain flow would eventually empty into a pond about thirty feet to his right. He looked to his left at the edge of the driveway. It was about a foot and half higher than the gully. It was lined with loose pebbles but at least it would be dry to crawl on, he thought. Though the driveway was slightly elevated, it took Jake a few tries because he kept sliding back due to the loose pebbles.  

The trek on the shoulder was a little rough on his elbows, but he was moving a little faster. What seemed like about an hour, he looked back to where his scooter was lying in the ditch. He must have crept around 20 yards or so. Before him is where the driveway forks. The left fork goes straight to the garage while the right goes curving down ending to a fire pit and to the front outdoor patio. Adjacent to it were wooden steps that went to a gazebo deck and that also went down to the river beach. Jake’s next route was to cross the driveway of the right fork to a sloped lawn area of grass and wildflowers. 

He was about to cross when he heard a crash that came from the garage area. By the sound of it, he knew it was the aluminum garbage cans and that means that the bear is rummaging in the trash for food. Jake quickly rolled himself back into the damp gully. Thank goodness that the grass was tall. His heart was pounding in his chest. He always dreaded an encounter with America’s largest carnivores. There was no doubt in his mind that he could never survive an attack. If he was to be attacked, he knew he would end up being tomorrow’s scat deposit. 

Then he heard some low woofing sounds. Against his will, he slowly lifted his head to peer through the tall grass. It was a black bear.  He watched it nose-around the base of the house. Then the bear turned toward where he was hiding, raising its nose sniffing the air. Jake held his breath. Whatever it took a whiff of, the bear soon lost interest and continued to lumber off toward the gazebo. It paused to sniff around the fire pit, then it went on into the forest at the far side of the house. Jake let out a sigh of relief.

He waited for several minutes then cautiously crossed the driveway. When he got to the grassy area, he stopped to check his elbows. They were scraped up a bit but not too bad. Jake flipped himself on his back. Then taking advantage of the slope, he used his elbows to work his way onto a sitting position. Once he was balanced, he estimated that the front of the house was only about 25 yards to go. Because it was going downhill it shouldn’t take too long, especially with the quick method he had in mind. 

Jake picked up the tub of ice cream and shook it. He heard some liquid but most of it may still be frozen. So, he rolled the tub down the slope first until it was stopped by one of the small shrubs that lined the edge of the driveway. Now, it was his turn. First, he aligned his legs to be parallel to the slope. He crossed his skinny arms to his chest and let himself fall backward. As his back hit the grass, he wheeled to the left and rolled the same direction as the tub of ice cream. He rolled for about 10 yards. When he stopped, his head was spinning with vertigo. He hadn’t done this in a long time and as he shook his head to clear it, he smiled thinking, ‘That was fun!’

From where ended, he was only 3 yards to the edge of the patio. He was back walking on his elbows keeping on the grassy fringe. When he reached the patio, he didn’t look forward to this part of the crawl. The patio was made up of a mixture of concrete and thousands of tiny pebbles per square foot. He didn’t care to elbow-walk on this particular surface. Well, at least, he only had to endure it for just a few more yards. About halfway to the door, he reached into his belt pouch and took out his remote control that would automatically open the front door. He clicked on it and heard the expected chiming sound indicating that the door opened. 

Then he heard a distant branch break and some heavy chuffing sound. Some 20 yards away, under the forest canopy was the bear. It was looking at him. Jake’s heart was pounding again. The open door was only 2 yards away… 6 feet to safety. That bear can easily sprint to him before he can even get through the door. He needs something to distract it even for a few seconds. Then he remembered that his remote control had an emergency button. He pressed it and there was a continuing whining sound emanating from the left side of the house. The bear was startled but it stood its ground. However, it did turn its head toward where the alarm was coming from. It was now or never. As fast as he could, he desperately launched himself to safety. It seemed like everything was in slow motion. As he was a quarter of the way in, he could just make out the bear rushing at him on his peripherals. His feet had just cleared the entryway when the front door clicked shut. Fortunately, during his desperate crawl, Jake had the presence of mind to press the close door button. Through the iron grills and glass of the door, the bear loomed tall on its haunches grumbling frustratingly that such an easy prey so escaped him. But the bear was not disappointed for long. Jake saw that there was one casualty. Through the window, the bear was lapping up the melted Rocky Road ice cream. 

Sore all over, he crawled to the living room. Not bothering to climb onto a couch, he opted instead to collapse on a thick plush rug and take a nap. Just as he lost himself in slumber, he had one thought… 

‘Who says that handicaps can’t have adventures?’