September Fall. Jenny Plumb

      Chapter 1

      Sadie felt a brief moment of instability and knew she was going to fall. Her arms flailed, reaching out to the empty air in an attempt to prevent her downward momentum. A scream erupted from her throat as her body cascaded towards the earth far below.

      "Aaah!"

      Jerking awake, Sadie's eyes darted around the dimly lit bedroom. Slowly she relaxed and lay back on her pillow, breathing hard. Her brow was sweaty, her muscles felt shaky, and her entire left foot ached.

      Her bladder insisted that she get up and use the bathroom before trying to fall back to sleep, but a quick trip to the toilet was no longer a possibility. She glared at the cast that encased her left foot and lower calf. The sensation of falling rippled across her brain again, and a shiver ran down her spine.

      Tossing the covers off her good foot, she pushed herself up to a sitting position. Sighing deeply, she grabbed the crutches that were balanced between her bed and the nightstand. She stood on her right foot, put the crutches under her armpits, and started the slow trek out to the hall and then down to the bathroom.

      Before she even made it to the bathroom, the door to her parents' bedroom opened, and her mother, Victoria, stuck her head out. "You okay?" she whispered.

      Sadie's whole body tensed, and it was all she could do not to scream that she was fine. Instead, she gritted her teeth and muttered, "Yes, Mom, I'm fine. You don't have to check on me every time I have to pee." Living with her parents again after two years of living on campus in the dorms was proving to be challenging.

      Instead of leaving her alone, Victoria stepped out and shut the door behind her. She walked over to Sadie and rubbed her shoulder.

      "How's the pain, sweetheart?"

      Sadie almost laughed. Almost. Her old friend pain held an entirely new meaning for her. How was the pain? Well, it was completely tolerable now that her broken ribs were on the mend and the multitude of minor scrapes and bruises that had covered her body were healed. But it wasn't enjoyable. Certainly nothing like the satisfying pain of a good workout or the potentially blissful pain of a whipping from her lover. This pain was just an annoyance and a constant reminder that her life was ruined.

      "It's fine."

      Her mother scrutinized her and said, "Take some Advil anyway." Sadie opened her mouth to protest, but then her mom added softly, "Do it for me?"

      Deflated, Sadie nodded. "Yeah, okay."

      "Thank you, sweetheart."

      Victoria pressed her lips to her daughter's forehead once before going back to her own room and shutting the door.

      Ten minutes later, Sadie was back in her bed with an empty bladder and medication in her system. The clock blinked five-o-eight, as if mocking her, daring her to go to asleep again so she could relive the fall one more time before morning.

      "Screw that," she mumbled and grabbed her phone. She knew better than to check social media. She had turned off all of her notifications. If she had to see one more post from her friends about how great their summer was going, she'd chuck her phone across the room. But just seeing the date of September first made her want to cry. Summer was almost over, and she'd spent the entirety of those precious three months recuperating. She opened an app and started playing a mind-numbing game to help push her emotions aside. Hopefully it would eventually put her into a dreamless sleep for the next couple of hours.