PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll
It was too high up. The colander mocked him from above, dangling from a suspended cord. What was wrong with storing things in cupboards?
The pasta boiled on the stove. Getting too soft.
He was getting too impatient. With his legs, limp and useless, in the wheelchair. With the stupid colander in the dumbest place.
He should have gotten it down before he started cooking. Prepare beforehand. He took a deep breath. All that was needed was some slight adjustments to the way he usually goes about things. That’s all.
Grabbing a broomstick, he gently coaxed it off the hook.
100 words
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Written for Friday Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.
Click the frog to submit your story or read others’.
Fatima Fakier 
In a few words, your story generated questions in my mind and then satisfyingly answered them. Well done.
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*fist pump* Yes! Thank you, Eduardo. And thanks for reading too.
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Oh, how I remember those days in the wheelchair! Everything was frustrating. Between being short and then seated lower than the stove/counter/table… it was just damn hard! And there was never anyone around to help. Grrr….. So glad to be walking again and not so helpless. Never want to be that way again.
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I can only imagine how difficult that must have been. Especially losing your independence so suddenly. I’m just so glad and happy that you have healed! Thank you for sharing that with us.
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The daughter only uses her power wheelchair for outside. She makes do with a walker or crutch(es) in one of four handicap units, in a public housing complex of 80 units. The lowered surfaces make things so much easier for her, but they’re almost impossible to find out in the real (nasty) world. 😯
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It’s great that she is able to be independent, even staying on her own despite the everyday challenges. 🙂
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I get it, entirely. When I was in the wheelchair, we lived in metro housing… a h-cap unit. Even then, it was hard to reach anything. And at the time, hubby was working 15-18 hours a day. It was hard… good thing I’m so stubbornly independent. I found a way… even if I had to call the FD to get me off the counter a few times… hehe!
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Where there’s a will there’s a way. I just hope it didn’t land on his head!
Here’s my story.
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Judging from his choice of tool, it probably did!
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Ingenious! I imagine he hasn’t been in the wheelchair long or he would have learned the need to have everything within reach. So I began to see a story about why a newly disabled person had been left to cope on his own. And so the story exploded outwards
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Maybe newly disabled. Or maybe new at trying to regain his independence, with his disability.
Thank you, Neil!
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Yes! Always more than one way. Great inspiration.
Nice Fatima.
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With perseverance there’s always solutions. Thank you, Darnell.
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You’re welcome 😊
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I admire his independence and determination, even in the minor thing of cooking his own dinner.
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So do I 🙂
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Great story, Fatima! An original take on the prompt, and a very true-to-life character.
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Thank you, Penny 🙂
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Dear Fatima,
Necessity is the mother of invention they say. I hope he’s able to duck if the colander goes for his head. Good story that shines a light on the challenges facing the disabled.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’m glad I was able to provide a different viewpoint on everyday life. Thank you, Rochelle.
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I’m not lame, but I’m short. I have to climb shelves in grocery stores, and at my age and with my crumbly bones that’s a dangerous undertaking. My cane, though, comes in very hand 🙂
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Climbing grocery stores shelves is a risky effort for anyone. Those fittings don’t feel very stable. I bet with that cane you can prod things off of shelves!
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Yes. And many other shoppers, all my life, have been willing to reach things too high for me.
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I’m glad he didn’t give up.
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He’s a fighter despite it all.
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He’ll learn. Just takes practice. Enjoyed the take on the prompt.
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He’s finding his way slowly but surely.
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Great take on the prompt! It’s amazing how we adapt.
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Adaptability is one of how we grow. Thank you, Kelley.
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I was going to say, who in heaven’s name put it up there out of reach but… if it’s a new situation.
Well done!
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Ha! I had to make the prompt work, Dale. I imagined that he usually lives with his partner, but for some reason today he decides to be a little more independent.
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Oh I pray for the broomstick to work… and for some Pasta al dente
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If it’s not al dente it isn’t pasta. 🙂
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