Therapy Stories

The Therapy Stories1

Next patient, please!2

It was getting worse by the day. Headache after headache. Time ticked by so slowly, the patients were getting more and more bizarre. a plumber that was afraid of water, a mewing clock and, of course it didn't say nice things, nooo, it said for her to kill him.3

He swiped at his brow, stared out the window and wondered was it really beneficial to continue..4

They were looking for answers. What answers were there to stuff that made no sense. What, had there been some traumatic experience in Joes life that would cause him such fear of water? Still, why would he decide to become a plumber? None of it made any sense at all.5

He breathed in deep, shut his eyes and imagined himself in a distant place. A place where he was inconspicuous, insignificant, invisible.6

The phone buzzed, he opened his eyes, came back to the present. Sighed and sat behind the desk. He pushed the button announcing to his secretary he was ready.7

NEXT PATIENT PLEASE...8

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The man who collects things10

When he walked into the office, things started to fall out of his pockets.11

A ping-pong ball, a mini stapler, dog bones, pencils, a myriad of paper clips, little scraps of paper with numbers on them. He stared with eyes so wide, as if the little scraps of things were his life being exposed. He fell down on his knees trying to scoop them up, the more he scooped, the more fell from his pocket.12

Dr. Fraud just stared at him. If he could just transport himself to another place, right now, right this second.. He placed his hands in his pocket and told the man it was ok,, he could pick it up later. The timer hadn't been set and he hadn't paid attention to how much time had passed. He sighed as he reached over and turned it to 40 minutes.13

The man had started to cry, Dr. Fraud snatched tissue from the box and handed it to him, instead of wiping his eyes and nose, he promptly stuck the tissue in his pocket with the other pieces of his existence. 14

Dr. Fraud asked the man what the little pieces of things represented in his life.. The man turned the wide eyed stare on him and asked.. What things..15

Dr. Fraud stared into space.. It was going to be one of those days.. The timer had moved, one minute..16

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Next Patient Please!18

Ahhh one that truly had his attention. Was it her problem, or her beauty, didn't matter, for once he didn't watch the clock or wait for the gong.19

She was scared but sexy, sad but sultry. A complete contradiction if ever there had been one. But, he couldn't enjoy it because now the analyzing started, he hated that! 20

Was she crazy? Was someone truly following her? Or was it what he expected a simple problem of wanting to escape a humdrum existence?21

And, as quickly as she caught his attention, she lost it. His self centered analytical mind slipped the bonds of here and now. He began to imagine other things. A thought formed itself, why couldn't he have more patients like her? Perhaps an application.. There could be requirements, yes.. requirements.. if they didn't meet them, then he just simply wouldn't take them on. He was smiling to himself, the idea was great, the gong sounded. It actually startled him, he realized for the last thirty minutes or so, he hadn't heard a word she'd said. He handed her a tissue and ushered her out the door. The requirements had his attention now. His door flew open.. there was Joe.22

Next Patient Please! 23

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Next patient, please!25

Well, this day was going well, a dog that liked his paws washed hmmm.. another addition to his notebook. 26

He thought about the kid and how sad he was about his mother. Maybe he had been a little crass, oh well.27

He brought his attention back to the present. What was it, yesss, Bobby didn't like air, he didn't like air, how can you not like air?28

"See, I don't mind wind cause, I can feel it, you know, I can see what it does but, air.. It just sits there doing nothing, I don't like the idea that it is able to travel through my nostrils into my lungs, it makes me feel like I'm suffocating." He looked at the timer, just another two minutes.29

"Don't you still breathe when air enters your nostrils?" He knew the man wouldn't have time to answer that question, he was glad.. The timer gonged. "Bobby, I want you to think about the fact that you are still breathing even when air is going into your nose and lungs, ok.. think about that, practice breathing deep."30

He ushered Bobby out of his office, turned on his heel and stepped into the outer office. 31

There he was, Joe.. 32

Next Patient Please!33

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Next patient, please!35

Well, he'd needed a new chair, the thought of the broken timer didn't sit well though.36

Oh he could get another one but, that one had been his protector, his savior, his right on time!37

Dr. Fraud walked around the store, { Nelsons Novelties & things}. He hoped [Things] meant another gong. The shelves were lined with everything from Blown Glass Dolphins to Talking Diaries.38

And there it was, his new savior, his new protector, his right on time timer.39

He picked it up and turned it over in his hands.. He had to smile, no he actually laughed out loud..40

It was the statue of a plumber, there was a toilet in front of him, he had a snake running from his hands into the toilet bowl. As the plumber pushed the snake into the bowl, it ticked off the minutes. When it had gone all the way, it flushed!41

He walked into the office feeling rather satisfied with himself, his secretary buzzed... It was Joe!42

Next Patient Please!43

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A traumatic experience45

Dr. Fraud decided he was going to get to the bottom of Joes' problem. He raised the locket, spun it and spoke soft and soothingly to Joe.46

"Watch the locket, focus your attention on the spinning locket, watch it close, your eyes are starting to get very heavy, you hear nothing but the sound of my voice I am going to count backwards from 5, when I say the number 1, you will be fast asleep, 5..... 4..... 3...... 2....... 1.."47

Joes' head fell forward, his chin resting on his chest. 48

"Joe, listen, I am going to take you back in time to when you were a young boy, right now you are 5 yrs old, tell me what is going on..?49

Dr. Fraud watched Joes' face.. There was pain and it almost made him afraid of what he might hear. Joe began to cry, he began to shake, he was begging someone not to hurt him. 50

Fraud thought about ending the session but now, he had to know. "Joe, listen to my voice Joe, nothing and no one can hurt you, you hear me Joe, listen to my voice, remove yourself, it's not you, tell me what is happening.."51

Joe became quiet, then he grimaced.. He went on to tell Dr. Fraud that he was there with his sisters, mom and his dad, they were all in the pool, he was having a good time but then the water monster touched his ankle. Dr. Fraud asked Joe if he could see the water monster.. Joe said no, but, it appeared everytime his dad jumped into the pool.. He said the water monster always threw water in his eyes.52

It was all he could do not to laugh.. It was time to end the session for the day, the toilet had just flushed..53

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Next Patient please!55

Dr. Fraud set the minute on the plumber clock, the sound of it flushing gave him a satisfaction. His secretary buzzed in the next patient. 56

A short, rather rotund man walked in and plopped down on the couch. This was different, he usually had to coax them. Before he could speak the man started to cry. Dr. Fraud slid the tissue box towards him and leaned back in his chair. He quickly reached over and set the minutes on the plumber clock, he looked forward to the quick swish.57

Well, the man had regained his composure. Dr. Fraud asked his name. In a shaky voice the man replied.. "I...I don't know." Fraud placed his hands under his chin. 58

"Someone, stole my name." Dr. Fraud watched the mans' face, there was no deception, he actually believed someone stole his name. "Tell me, what was the name they stole?" The man thought, his lip began to quiver, tears rolled down his round face.. "They stole my memory too, not all of it but, I have never had a name." The man went into his oration, from as far back as he could remember, what he could remember, he'd never had a name. His mother and father had just called him son. The kids at school called him "that boy" or "no name".59

The toilet swished.. Dr. Fraud set the man up with another appointment the following week.60

It was amazing, some people were not meant to have children and, Dr. Fraud felt these two should have been spayed and neutered, respectively. As he replaced the file, he thought to himself, how can parents not give their child the basic things, like... a name?61

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Next Patient Please!63

When she walked in Dr. Fraud caught his breath. The first thought that crossed his mind was, she had escaped the bonds of heaven. She was angelic, she stood at his desk, the light came through the window from behind her, her hair looked like soft down, the blond tendrils slightly moving in the breeze from the ceiling fan. He looked at her hands, they were small but, somehow he knew their sized belied their strength. He motioned for her to sit, he wasn't in a hurry to set the timer, she had captured his full attention.64

"What I say to you will be strange to say the least, but, you must believe me.." 65

Her voice was so soft, it was like listening to soothing music, Dr. Fraud settled back in his chair, the timer still hadn't been set.66

"Dr. I suffer from hypervisionism" Well there was a word he'd never ever heard.. He looked at her face and though he was reluctant to interrupt, he asked her to explain. She rose from the chair and walked around to the front of his desk. Her hands were hidden in the folds of her dress, he watched transfixed.67

"Basically Dr., I have visions, I know the future, I know the past, I have spoken to god, he instructs me.." Dr. Fraud leaned over and set the timer for 35 minutes. What had he expected, he shook the cob webs from his brain and became his real self. "And when god talks to you, what does he say?" She smiled slightly, turned in his direction and spoke, "Dr. don't, I am not stupid, as I said before, I have visions, I had a vision last night, about you." He was taken aback for a moment. "And what was this vision..?" She turned full face to him.. "It was your death." Dr. Fraud leaned back in his chair. "Really.. did god tell you when this is supposed to take place?" 68

She looked him in the eye.. "Yes, right now!"69

Dr. Fraud stared at the little hand, it was holding his letter opener. 70

The toilet swished.. Next Patient Please!71

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Next Patient Please73

The laptop sat on his desk. He timidly touched the little red scar on his forehead and grimaced. 74

He was going to be late, his appointment was at 3pm it was already 2:45. Aggrevation nibbled it's way into his psyche giving him a full blown migraine. Trying to put the files away wasn't helping, each time he bent over, his head pounded like a jackhammer. 75

The mid day dreams or hallucinations, whatever they were, were starting to interfere with his work. It was time for him to seek help. 76

Although there was nothing wrong with that, the information a psychiatrist was bombarded with daily could take it's toll, it was wearing him down. 77

He wasn't able to analyze the dream, an angel that cussed like a sailor, was trying to kill him, frightened him beyond what any patient he'd ever encountered had.. There was no logic for it, at least he couldn't put it together.. physician heal thy self..78

Leaving the office, he stopped at the water faucet to take the little blue pill. The thought hit him like a rock.. the hallucinations had started when he'd started taking the little blue pills. The world lifted from his shoulders from the thought of it.. The little blue pills. He went into his office and pulled out the PDR.. There it was. "Side effects": Stomach upset, headache, dry mouth, sexual overstimulation, dizziness and, in severe cases: migraines, trouble breathing, HALLUCINATIONS. He cancelled the Dr. visit, buzzed his secretary and informed her that the Dr. was in. 79

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I would like to give proper credit to Bill Hartzia for creating Dr. Fraud.. These little stories would not have been possible if it hadn't been for him.. To see his stories go to http://protagonize.com81