Three-Legged Race?
Stories often sound ludicrous, beyond the pale of reality. Yesterday I heard a woman say that her artificial leg and the expensive— $743.00— shoe attached to the leg disappeared when she was in the hospital.
"Imagine that," she said, "someone stole my prothesis when I was a patient."
"Where was the leg?"
"In the closet."
Since she was in a bed she didn't need the leg and someone placed it in the closet for safekeeping.
I chose to believe the story. Didn't Flannery O'Connor write a short story about a Bible salesman who stole a wooden leg belonging to a young woman? Of course O'Connor's story is multi-layered and the leg grows in meaning—literal and metaphorical.
The others who either heard the story or heard me retelling the story, refused to allow for such an unnatural theft.
"It's a made-up story
"Why would anyone want the leg? It's made for one particular person."
"What would you do with the leg? Can't sell it."
Oh how far we've moved from the pot bellied stove and the sharing of stories—some totally true, others varnished up with a bit of imagination.
"Imagine that," she said, "someone stole my prothesis when I was a patient."
"Where was the leg?"
"In the closet."
Since she was in a bed she didn't need the leg and someone placed it in the closet for safekeeping.
I chose to believe the story. Didn't Flannery O'Connor write a short story about a Bible salesman who stole a wooden leg belonging to a young woman? Of course O'Connor's story is multi-layered and the leg grows in meaning—literal and metaphorical.
The others who either heard the story or heard me retelling the story, refused to allow for such an unnatural theft.
"It's a made-up story
"Why would anyone want the leg? It's made for one particular person."
"What would you do with the leg? Can't sell it."
Oh how far we've moved from the pot bellied stove and the sharing of stories—some totally true, others varnished up with a bit of imagination.
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