84 - Suspension of Disbelief - Going Through the Motions - DawnOfMe - Original

[dawnofme.livejournal.com]

Title:  Going Through the Motions
Fandom:  Original, but the OC makes a brief appearance in my current BTVS fan fiction WIP.
Prompt:  Suspension of Disbelief
Warnings:  None
Summary:  A brief look into the life of a California Social Work when she's off the clock.



Suspension of Disbelief

Going Through the Motions

For a few minutes, a brief slice of time in her busy life, Irma let herself go.  Her stomach did flip-flops and her dreadfully loose glasses jiggled atop her pert nose as she raced through space next to her best friend Jilly.  The key to totally getting into the moment was securing a position in the front row as they’d done today.

Every weekday and occasionally on a weekend, she had to deal with the stark reality that is the world of social work.  Abused children, angry parents, listless and tired foster parents and evil bosses demanding her attention.  But right now, she could get lost in the thrill of the ride.  She ducked to the right to avoid the asteroid coming her way and giggled when Jilly squealed beside her.

They were hit; the seat tilted back as she held on for dear life.  The pilot yelled out his distress and then the seat was tilting forward and to the left as they sped towards the ravaged planet below.  Her eyes lit up in her excitement with the danger of it all.   Her stomach rolled and tickled as they pulled up at the last minute and landed safely in the docking station.

The two-person motion chair slid back into an upright position, the screen went black and the dark room was suddenly awash in bright light.  The two women shared a delighted smile and unhooked their seat belts, before hopping down and walking to the ride exit on shaky legs.

Irma couldn’t help but feel let down as they came out of the dimly lit hallway and into the rush and bustle of the super mall.  As they did every week, they sat on a bench near the motion ride entrance to give themselves a moment to get their legs back.

“That really is a good one,” Jilly said pleasantly. 

“Yep.  Three weeks in a row and I could do that again next week.”  The coming soon poster section was still blank and the space travel ride had been running longer than most of them had.  A teenage couple leaned against the glass, blocking her view of the sign and began to grope and kiss each other.

Irma grimaced while pointing at them.  “See that couple?” she told Jilly.  “She’ll have a baby in about nine months and it will end up on my case load addicted to crack or something else.”

She glanced at Jilly who frowned back at her and said, “You really need to go on a vacation.  That job is making you very cynical.”

That was easy for Jilly to say.  Her job consisted of passing produce and packaged foods across a little laser beam.  She could smile at customers and have pleasant conversations with them.  At the end of the day, she could leave her apron and name tag in a locker, and forget about it all. 

Irma didn’t have that luxury.  It’s not that easy to turn off real life ugliness and forget about all the hurting people she tried to help while drowning in a sea of paper work and rules and regulations.  Sure, she could put in for a week of paid vacation.  Maybe she could even rent a house by the beach or take a cruise, but in the back of her mind, she knew that her kids were still out there, suffering.

Pointing at the motion ride entrance, Irma said, “That there is my little mini vacation;  my little trip into the suspension of disbelief.  It’s not much, but it will have to do until I get the calluses that my older co-workers swear will grow on my heart.”

They stood up together and stretched.

“You up for some ice cream?” Jilly asked cheerfully.

Irma appreciated the effort to get her out of the funk she was in.

“You buying?”

Jilly groaned.  “I knew you were going to say that.”

Comments

[sparrow2000.livejournal.com]

Very nice little snapshot of life. It’s funny what people will do to get away from the reality of the day to day and a virtual ride of a space craft is as good a way as any.

I especially liked how you’ve drawn Irma’s cynicism. She looks at the teenage couple kissing and doesn’t see the hearts and flowers, she just sees the potential for pain and suffering – sad, but unfortunately probably true.

Well done, hon.

[dawnofme.livejournal.com]

Thank you : ) I had trouble coming up with something for this prompt. I was working on editing my work in progress when I thought of the OC in the chapter I was working on. Miss Irma Barnes, Dawn's new Social Worker. I had so much fun writing her, that I wanted to add a little more. What a rewarding, yet sad and unending job social workers have. I just had to write her a little fun scene.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Very nicely done :D

[dawnofme.livejournal.com]

Thank you : )