"Turn" by Karis G.

“Just….leave me alone, ok?”

 

Joni pushed her dad’s hand away, “Hon, are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” his patient persistence frustrated his daughter even more. “How could he possibly understand, he had the chance to participate in the Olympics, the Olympics.” Joni thought. She would never have that chance. To be in the hall of fame, to even walk down a hallway again, for goodness sakes.

 

The nurse came in, “Are you ready for your therapy session Joni?” her father nodded and placed both hands on the back of her wheelchair. Approximately one week ago. Joni would never forget the day. Nothing had been or would be clearer for the rest of her life. She remembered contemplating whether to drive to her niece Jayme’s birthday party, she had just turned two years old, but decided against it. Too far. Similarly, It was too late to join her sister Kathy and her boyfriend who had already left to go swimming at the Bay. Just as she had given up on her plans for the day, Kathy drove up – she had forgotten her handbag. She glanced at Joni smiling and called, “Want to go with us?!” Joni sprung up, grabbed a swimsuit and jumped into the back seat of her Volkswagen. It was the last time she would get into a car using her own two legs.

 

She remembered laughing as she climbed onto the raft she had swum so far out to reach, she looked out over the water, Kathy was laughing, the sunlight bounced off of her already fair hair, making it appear golden. She had only glanced down at the water in front of her…… and dived. The memory shifted, she was lying face down in the

Chesapeake Bay. Her blonde hair foated up to the surface of the water, she heard a snap, she didn't know where it had come from but as she tried to move her arms and legs to swim back up to the surface, she suddenly found she couldn’t. She lay there staring through clouds of flmy water, “How long was it going to take for someone to notice?” she thought, “did anyone see? Surely Kathy watched me dive off of the raft, she had to...” a small silver needlefsh swam by her face and continued on its way. She wanted to shout “Can you see me?” but her nasal passages began to burn, her vision slowly grew blurry and the clouds of water she had been able to see through just

seconds ago began to blacken. Had anyone seen? “Am I going to die?” was the last thought that foated Joni’s mind before the world went completely dark.

Joni felt a hand clasp her shoulder, her dad startled her out of the memory, she was grateful. As he placed a hand on Joni’s shoulder he bent down to whisper in her daughter's ear, “I know this is the last thing you want to hear this right now hon, but maybe this is part of His plan, a bigger one, one you could never have imagined.” Joni closed her eyes, she couldn’t hear that right now. Didn’t want to. How could this be part of His plan. The verse she used to hear so often as a child “...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” those words tasted like dirt in her mouth, she would never say them again.

Joni heard a voice behind her, “How’s she going dad?” She would have recognized that voice anywhere, it was Kathy. Her vision was obstructed so she couldn’t catch a glimpse of either of them, but knew they were communicating silently with their eyes. She heard her father’s footsteps retreat as he began to back away from the chair. Kathy took his place, placing both hands on the wheelchair. She bent down and whispered in her sister's ear, “There’s something important I have to tell you, Joni.” her voice was urgent and serious. Kathy began to wheel her sister away from the Recovery Room. “What?” Joni whispered, she couldn’t talk to Kathy right now. Not because she was ungrateful, but because she could hardly face herself. “Joni, I wasn’t going to turn around.” Her sister’s tone suggested something no one had considered. Joni frowned, she didn’t understand, she knew Kathy had been the one to pull her from the river to safety, she assumed Kathy had seen her leap off of the raft. Dad had told her everything, right? “I didn’t see you.” her sister repeated “I didn’t know.” Joni frowned, “There was this sharp pinch on my toe,” she began,” and when I looked down this crab had bitten me, I turned around to warn you, but you were nowhere to be found, the last time I saw you you were swimming out to that stupid raft, but you weren’t on it, or anywhere. Something told me to go fnd you -- quickly. So I did.” Joni watched as a small smile began to form on her sister’s face. “Joni, He knew, He saved you.”

Her sister’s eyes were sincere, Joni knew she was telling the truth.The room began to spin, and she closed her eyes trying to absorb the words her sister had just spoken. She couldn’t stop the tears as they began to roll down her face and for the first time since sitting on the beach of the Delaware shore with her, mom, dad, and sisters,

hearing stories of Moses, David, and Daniel, and how God used them to do the miraculous, she began to pray.

 

Narrative based on the story of Joni Eareckson Tada