Abby, Two
Copyright© 2019 by Old Man with a Pen
Chapter 40
When lightning strikes a tree ... there are several things that can ... historically ... happen.
The tree explodes ... shrapnel. That often happens when the lightning superheats the moisture in the wood.
The lightning uses the tree as a conductor ... there is usually a strip blasted off from bolt to ground.
Depending on branches and other conditions ... the top can be blown off leaving a tall stump.
Fire.
The lightning can ... and has ... blasted a concrete swimming pool right out of the ground.
We had an occurrence of shrapnel.
It is only a hundred feet... 33 meters ... from the tree to the front door of the palace. A round from a 16” rifle on the USS Missouri exploding on the tree would not have had a greater effect.
BLACKNESS
The next 12 weeks ... three months ... are not in my memory ... they do not exist. Doctors, surgeons and specialists did things of which I was unaware. In my mind ... or at least ... within the range of my hearing ... plans were made, attempted and finished ... I don’t know what.
I recovered my senses in hospital. I doubt I’ll ever be pretty again. The nurses actively keep me from mirrors. Not that it matters ... I am kept in the dark.
The day came for the unwrapping ... just my head ... the rest of me was toast ... ed.
When a doctor says, “You may experience a slight discomfort,” he really means “this is going to hurt like a muthafucka.”
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