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Bad Luck Like a Lightning Storm

An Endless Flash

By Ady FrielPublished 6 years ago 5 min read
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It rains a lot here.

It was June 2014. My family finally had enough of my maternal aunt causing us nothing more than grief with her criminal activities in my maternal grandmother's home. My stepfather, late in the night, woke my mother, my little sister, myself, and twins. The twins were less than 2-years-old. He had us pack everything we could and stuff it into our tiny little 1990's van the best we could. We fit everything we could get, leaving only a couple of things behind... including the backseat.

All was looking cramped. We had boxes of all sizes stuffed in the back, in between the middle seats, and even tied to the roof. My sister and I had to sit in the back since there was no room in the front and no seats. The twins cried because there was very little room for them. My parents were stressed and tired, yet they had no other choice. It was either get away or get swept into even more trouble thanks to my maternal aunt.

We set off before dawn and drove as far as we could get before having to pull over for the night. On the way, we realized the old van couldn't handle the load we had. We left a couple of things behind in each state we passed through and some of those things were irreplaceable.

This is where the bad luck started to happen. I only grew aware of it when I couldn't find any of my clothes and the blanket I was gifted by my late grandfather. I had nothing to wear and the blanket I held so dear was now gone. I had to keep on the clothes that were slowly getting too small for me to wear and the only thing that meant more to me than any other object in the world was gone.

We managed to get somewhere where we could buy me some cheap clothing to wear until we got to where we were headed; let me tell you, going roughly 2,000 miles from the West to the Northeast Coast was a long trip to go without much to wear and a gift such as the blanket.

By the time we finally made it to the Northeast, we were all stressed beyond our wits and exhausted. We had to house with my stepfather's parents for a while and ended up living in a run-down townhouse another town over. It wasn't bad but we've lived in better. Our luck really started to go down from there. The townhouse kept falling apart. We couldn't use the bathroom sink, people were starting to go insane from Cabin Fever due to all the winter storms, and the first-floor roof was ready to cave in due to a big crack forming down the center.

Hospitalization

Third Time in Less than 4 Years

While all of that was happening to the house... I started to fall really ill due to how cold it got during the winter and how hot it got during the summer... there was also an almost endless string of Stomach Flu, Colds, and you name it going around in the High School I was attending. The first year there I wound up with Sepsis and Cellulitis. It was horrible. I was stuck in the hospital for a good week that first time and the second time around was no different. The hardest thing about all that was trying to keep myself clean enough and away from sick people enough for it not to flare up again. However, it did, and I was once again in the Hospital for a week trying to survive. In that week, the CDC came in because they feared I had a flesh-eating virus attacking my chest; not that there was much luck, it wasn't that. One of the CDC doctors stuck around because he was the main researcher on a type of Autoimmune Deficiency he claimed I had.

An Autoimmune Deficiency. It all made sense. I had been a really sick child and had even gotten worse the older I got. It seemed luck was okay. I had someone helping me out yet... soon to discover... with how things go for us, it didn't last. I once again got struck with Sepsis and was once again stuck in the Hospital for another week. The day after I was released I was struck with up to 24 booklets of work, 3 pages of online worksheet links, and had to complete the work that week held at the same time. Bad Luck was back. I had complained and pleaded with the higher ups to lessen the load, however, if I were to graduate I would have to do it all. I just couldn't. I had to drop out if I were to keep my sanity and keep my health in check. It was too much stress for my weak body to handle.

I dropped out. It was honestly my last resort and one I was very reluctant to make. I know how hard it is to get a decent job all thanks to my entire family. Not one has graduated and I happen to think that's what lead to all this bad luck. Well, a part of it anyways.

Let me move on. We ended up having to move into a really cruddy apartment. It was one of those very old 150+ year old houses turned into apartments to help support the influx of people being born and moving into the town. It was so small, and just like the last place, it kept falling apart. We once again couldn't use the bathroom sink, the floors kept flooding, our washer nearly fell through the floor, and we had mold growing everywhere. The worst part about it was the fact that there was no better place we could afford. It was that or the streets. We chose to live in a mold infested house rather than take our chances with having seven people be on the streets; more so with the twins being barely four years old.

The area wasn't any better. There were druggies hanging out in the freshly made park, the street was so busy for being on a curb that they had to install—people still ignored it even while it was there—and it was overall unsafe to raise a child, much less two of them. I wanted nothing to do with that area and neither did my parents. The twins suffered. They weren't allowed to go outside and play and it stayed that way until we ended up packing our bags and making the trip back West. This time we moved a little farther south than the state I originated in.

My stepfather did some research about this town we moved too before choosing it. Do not get me wrong, this place is absolutely beautiful, and very big. It has so much to do here compared to everywhere else and I wouldn't have chosen a better place. However, as bad luck has plagued this family, we soon discovered this place doesn't have a lick of good Health Insurance. That leaves me in a very tough spot since I discovered I had an Autoimmune Deficiency. It means I have to pay out of pocket for medications that'll cost me more than a good $500 or more depending on how much I need. It also means none of us can get dental care nor general care without having to pay out of pocket. That's something we simply cannot do.

Now, let's jump to the present since it happens to hold the most bad luck of all. We have had this car for a little over a year. My stepfather was given it by his brother who happens to no longer be around. It was only a couple of days ago when my stepfather was picking my little sister up from work late at night; he drove down the main highway that links the town together, and then... wham! A deer dashed right out in front of the car and nearly totaled it. I have no idea what happened to the poor deer, yet I do know about the car. We did our best to scrap what we could to get as much of it fixed. It's costing us a bunch. We can still drive it, but it isn't in as good of shape as it used to be. If we cannot get it to work properly, we'll be out of a car, and nobody can get to work since there are no buses in walking distance and Uber and the variants do not operate in the area we live in. The distance to town is just too great for our wallets to handle.

immediate family
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About the Creator

Ady Friel

I'm Ady Friel. I'm a 24-year old Non-Binary (He/They) Aroace. I’m currently living with my parents due to health. I'm an avid writer and often times super opinionated. I love to tell stories and what's on my mind.

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