A. L. Kaplan

Tag: doctor

  • THANK YOU

    Against All Odds

    A friend of mine recently posted his dismay at all the negativity that has popped up on the news, Facebook and other social media. Instead of posting pictures of cute puppies and kittens like a few folks have done, I’d like to take a moment to thank some people for the work they do every day. While we see some of these folks on a daily basis, many work behind the scenes and aren’t noticed.

     

     

    To all our armed forces who risk their lives to keep America safe: Thank You

    To all our first responder who protect the innocent, uphold our laws, rescue lives, extinguish fires, and heal our injured: Thank You

    To all the doctors and nurses who work long hours to help us get well and heal: Thank You

    To all the teacher s who share their love of knowledge with our children, the future leaders of this country: Thank You

    To the people who rise early in the morning to collect our trash and recyclables: Thank You

    To people who repair and build our roads in sweltering heat and frigid cold: Thank You

    To our postal carriers who brave all sorts of weather to deliver our mail: Thank You

    To all our public servants who work behind the scenes to keep this country running: Thank You

    To the innumerable volunteers who step up in more ways than can be counted everyday: Thank You

     

    I’m sure I’ve missed a few. Take a moment to think of all the people you pass by every day.

    Who would you like to thank?

  • JUST FRUITS

    As Professor Jacob’s wife bit into the last pear in the basket, Michael couldn’t help but grin. It had to be the one he’d poisoned and had delivered anonymously earlier today. All he had to do was wait for her to get sick, then swoop in and save her with the antidote hidden in his ring. Professor Jacob would shower him with praise and get him the internship he wanted. He’d become a hero, the top medical student.

    It didn’t take long for a reaction. Mrs. Jacob began to gag. Foam sprayed from her mouth. Michael rushed forward to work his magic. Everything was going according to plan. That is until he reached Mrs. Jacobs. Her petite hand clamped around his wrist. Nothing in her appearance hinted at the strength that now cut off the circulation to his fingers. All signs of illness were gone.

    “You tried to poison us.”

    Words stuck in his throat.  “What… no… I can help….”

    Her lips curled back. Long white fangs lined her mouth and her usually blue eyes turned amber. “Then why was your scent all over the fruit?”

    Panic made Michael’s stomach clench. He tried to pull free but couldn’t break her hold. Dozens of amber eyes glared back at him when he looked around the room for help. Fur and sharp teeth were everywhere, along with deep rumbling growls.

    “You measured the poison for an adult,” said Professor Jacob. His hands grasped Michael’s shoulders, forcing him to the ground. “Our housekeeper’s daughter was only eight. You’ll pay for her death.”

    Music began to blast loud enough to make the champagne glasses shake. No one heard Michael’s screams as the pack took their revenge.

  • SHORE 3: HOSPITAL SHORE

    “They were aliens.”

    “You told me they were cats,” said the doctor. He tapped a pencil on his note pad.

    I glared at the doctor and raked my belly. I’d been relegated to the psychiatric ward ever since they found me unconscious on a barren island in the Pacific.

    “They were alien cats and they walked on two legs like we do.” The irritation on my stomach continued to irk me as much as this conversation. “I swear. I’m not making this up.”

    “I’m sure you believe that’s true. Tell me again how your ship sunk.”

    My teeth pressed together until they hurt. At least it distracted me from the damned itch. I’d told the same story for a month. No one believed me. Had I hallucinated Catherine and Tom? Had I really been that sun mad to have concocted the whole story?

    “We hit something during a storm and the ship sunk. I was the only survivor. Tom found me washed up on their spaceship disguised as an island. He and Catherine fed me the best seared fish I’ve ever had. That’s all I have to say.”

    The doctor’s brow wrinkled. “Looks like you’re not ready to face reality yet. I’ll have an orderly bring you back to your room.”

    The lock clicked behind me like a doomsday chime. Maybe I was crazy. Maybe I really had imagined the whole thing. I scratched my stomach again, then looked at the irritation. A tawny gold and black pattern decorated my skin, just like the spots on Catherine’s fur. My heart jumped. It was real, and I’d been tagged and released.

  • The Ghosts of Northgate

    Sweat dripped down my back despite the freezing temperature outside. I glanced at the frost covered window. Only inside felt like Hell’s furnace. And maybe it was. I stared in terrified fascination as flames danced across the cafeteria of the Northgate Sanitarium. Each human-shaped bonfire acted out a well-rehearsed script in a macabre ballet. One figure beat another with a rubber pipe. Another arched in spasm as electricity coursed through its body. A parody of a doctor drilled into a patient’s scull, clearly without anesthesia. Figures grappled and screamed a chorus that had probably started long before the place was shut down in the early 1950s.

    The doctors here called it experimental treatment of the criminally insane. Most people called what it was: Power hungry sadists loose in a playground, all with the approval of the state prison system. God only knows how many people suffered in this place.

    But that was old news. There had been rumors about disappearances in the past few weeks. When I decided to spent the night in this crumbling old building, I expected to find kids playing tricks or a new street gang pumping its muscles. Either of them would have made great stories, maybe even gotten me an early promotion at the Northgate Observer. If I wrote about this, my career as a journalist would end before it began.

    Notebook forgotten, all I could do was watch the horror unfold and pray I survived the night – with my sanity.