Fiction
The Girl Who Couldn’t Be Touched
A lonely life
The day Rose was born was supposed to be a happy one.
For the most part, they rejoiced like all new parents do.
There was a quiet celebration among the staff as yet a new life was brought into the world.
But, something started to happen.
The mother started feeling ill.
The father took the baby while the nurses rushed to the mother’s aid.
Things got worse, as the father handed the baby off to a nurse and he fell to the ground.
Luckily, the nurse was wearing gloves, because everyone would soon find out that Rose was a very special case.
Even though she was just a baby, Rose’s skin was poisonous to the touch.Luckily, the poison was mild and only caused illness when she was a baby, but as she grew older and older the poison grew more potent.
There was an incident with the neighbor’s cat.
And there was the very unfortunate incident with the mailman who didn’t get the warning and patted the young child on the head as he walked by.
He didn’t take but a few steps and keeled over.
And so her parents determined that it would be best to keep her in the house.
Eventually, she was mostly confined to one area of the house. When her parents did enter they wore suits like they were cleaning up a toxic spill. Her room was hermetically sealed with a large glass panel so her friends could come over.
But Rose couldn’t touch them or play with them. They could only sit in the small area outside her glass wall.
As Rose grew it became clear that school was not an option lest they find a child sized hazmat suit to keep the other children safe. So Rose was homeschooled.
Her friends came around for a while.
But once high school started they found other things to do. No one had time for the girl who couldn’t be touched.
She got older and a regular college wasn’t an option. So she enrolled in an online school.
She was disappointed at first. She dreamed of a college experience like she saw in the movies. But it would never happen. So she found a reputable school and talked to them and they made it so that she could graduate with the same degree as the others and made accommodations for her particular circumstances.
They even let her virtually graduate.
After school, she was able to find a job where she could work from home which was nice because she didn’t have any other choice.
She worked most of the day as there was little else to do.
And the rest of the time she walked around her small room. Over the years her parents were able to expand her living space. She had more than the small area she did as a child but it was still more a prison than a home to her.
One night while perusing the Internet she met a guy.
They hit it off right away.
He listened to her story.
He was intrigued.
He was funny.
They talked all night.
They chatted over different apps. She found it hard to work during the day. She’d wait for his messages.
One day he asked to come over.
They talked through the night. He sat there talking and talking. He started coming over more often. He’d bring dinner and put it in the doorway and then back up so she could take it.
They’d eat while sitting nearly face to face at the glass wall separating them.
She put her hand against the glass and he did as well. He was so close and yet he might have well been a world away.
They kept talking.
She told him how she yearned to be touched. She forgot what it felt like to have contact.
They talked until one day he said he could no longer take it.
He asked to come in.
She hit the lock and the door opened.
He touched her cheek and she felt the electric charge go through her body. She felt alive for the first time since she was a child playing out in the sun.
And then he kissed her.
It was but a second but sometimes moments can feel like years. She felt a whole lifetime in the kiss. A life flashed through her mind. A different life. She saw a wedding. She saw children.
She saw grandchildren and birthdays.
Then she opened her eyes and screamed.
He was lying motionless on the floor.
She tried to wake him up. She called 911. She pleaded and tried to wake him up. But it was no use. He wasn’t breathing. His heart had stopped.
The only thing she found was a piece of paper in his hand. It was a folded-over piece of paper with her name on it.
She opened it and the only words on it were “Thank you.”
And Rose kept crying wondering what it meant.
