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tamingthemuse2013-09-24 12:02 am
naughty-bangles.livejournal.com) wrote in tamingthemuse2013-09-24 12:02 am
Entry tags:
Prompt #375 Blessing ~ Miracle Worker ~ naughty_bangles ~ Original
Title: Miracle Worker
Rating: Gen
Prompt #375: Blessing
Word Count: 618
Penny took her hands away from the child's head, and rubbed them together, trying to erase the tickling sensation of pain traveling through her spiritual channels. It had never worked, but she kept doing it, and it had become a part of her personal ritual, and, therefore, of her public ritual, the one she did to impress her clients, to maintain the aura of mysticism around her.
She shook her hands two or three times, and looked at the worried mother, now kneeling in front of her son, asking him if he still felt the pain. The boy shook his head to say no, and relief passed it the eyes of the woman. Theo had been suffering from headache for nearly a week, and his mother, a very religious woman, had decided to have Penny have a look at him instead of going to a real doctor. Penny didn't argue ; money was money, and she needed it. She had still advised the woman to take her son to a hospital at some point ; she could only take the pain away, and it always had an origin that needed an other treatment. But for now, the boy wasn't in pain anymore, and Penny had earned some extra money to make ends meet this month.
"Thank you, thank you", the mother told her as soon as she got back on her feet, everything in her body expressing the relief she felt at the moment. Penny gave her a smile, a little bit forced. She had been praticing for years now, but she was still a bit uneasy with the big emotional reactions of some of her clients, especially the parents. It wasn't such a big deal, for her, and she made them pay. It was nothing more than a transaction to her.
"No problem", she managed to respond. "I'm only doing my job." Penny hoped the woman would take the hint, and paid her before leaving. It wasn't the easiest moment of the session, getting the client to remember to pay her, in the middle of their gratitude. She always had the impression she was being the coldest person on earth when she had to remind people that life went on while they were having their personal miracle. But she had to eat, and a rent to pay.
Luckily, that woman was still down-to-earth, and gave her the agreed-on money, squeezing her hands for the last time. "It's a real blessing that God has gifted you", she added, before departing with her ofspring. The young boy turned his head toward Penny, and she read his own gratefulness, for he was the one who had won the most in the bargain. The look on his face clenched her heart, and she gave him a smile, a real one this time, before he went through her door.
It was in those kinds of moment she felt like a fraud. She had a gift, that was true, bestowed on her by a god, if not the one the woman had talked about. She should use it to do the right thing, and not to take money from worried parents and people in pain. She should be at the hospital, right now, trying to help the one who needed it, instead of treating hypochodriacs and minor pains. She should, but she couldn't ; she didn't make enough money at her waitress job to live correctly, and she didn't want to attract scientific and medical attention on her, on the risk to see her free time - and maybe freedom -, taken from her in the name of Science. She didn't feel like she had a choice. Even saints had their own problems.
Rating: Gen
Prompt #375: Blessing
Word Count: 618
Penny took her hands away from the child's head, and rubbed them together, trying to erase the tickling sensation of pain traveling through her spiritual channels. It had never worked, but she kept doing it, and it had become a part of her personal ritual, and, therefore, of her public ritual, the one she did to impress her clients, to maintain the aura of mysticism around her.
She shook her hands two or three times, and looked at the worried mother, now kneeling in front of her son, asking him if he still felt the pain. The boy shook his head to say no, and relief passed it the eyes of the woman. Theo had been suffering from headache for nearly a week, and his mother, a very religious woman, had decided to have Penny have a look at him instead of going to a real doctor. Penny didn't argue ; money was money, and she needed it. She had still advised the woman to take her son to a hospital at some point ; she could only take the pain away, and it always had an origin that needed an other treatment. But for now, the boy wasn't in pain anymore, and Penny had earned some extra money to make ends meet this month.
"Thank you, thank you", the mother told her as soon as she got back on her feet, everything in her body expressing the relief she felt at the moment. Penny gave her a smile, a little bit forced. She had been praticing for years now, but she was still a bit uneasy with the big emotional reactions of some of her clients, especially the parents. It wasn't such a big deal, for her, and she made them pay. It was nothing more than a transaction to her.
"No problem", she managed to respond. "I'm only doing my job." Penny hoped the woman would take the hint, and paid her before leaving. It wasn't the easiest moment of the session, getting the client to remember to pay her, in the middle of their gratitude. She always had the impression she was being the coldest person on earth when she had to remind people that life went on while they were having their personal miracle. But she had to eat, and a rent to pay.
Luckily, that woman was still down-to-earth, and gave her the agreed-on money, squeezing her hands for the last time. "It's a real blessing that God has gifted you", she added, before departing with her ofspring. The young boy turned his head toward Penny, and she read his own gratefulness, for he was the one who had won the most in the bargain. The look on his face clenched her heart, and she gave him a smile, a real one this time, before he went through her door.
It was in those kinds of moment she felt like a fraud. She had a gift, that was true, bestowed on her by a god, if not the one the woman had talked about. She should use it to do the right thing, and not to take money from worried parents and people in pain. She should be at the hospital, right now, trying to help the one who needed it, instead of treating hypochodriacs and minor pains. She should, but she couldn't ; she didn't make enough money at her waitress job to live correctly, and she didn't want to attract scientific and medical attention on her, on the risk to see her free time - and maybe freedom -, taken from her in the name of Science. She didn't feel like she had a choice. Even saints had their own problems.