Cyber Control by Rosie Oliver

[Glitch]

I am numb, paralysed from the neck down. Strangers over-ooze sympathy when they hear the word: quadriplegic. Family and friends avoid me, too embarrassed that they can stand on their own two feet. I hate this prison of false emotions. I want to be back in the real world, the way I was before my so-called accident.

#​

The sea was my fascination. I would sail, swim, dive, or if it was in a fury, stand back from the shore to watch pebbles being hurled out of its spindrift.

The injury happened when I was diving in the newly discovered Forden sea cave in Gothenburg’s archipelago; 33 metres depth and 240 metres in to be precise. A pink granite boulder twinkled wildly in my lights. Curious, I diverted towards it. Two strokes should have got me there. I barely got three quarters of the way. Puzzled, I checked my oxygen via my wrist screen. Levels were normal. I felt my lips with my tongue. They were warmer than normal, a sign of carbon dioxide poisoning. My diving app had gone haywire.

Read more...

Details on the submissions page for magazine general submissions.

 

[johnnyjet]

Let me be the first to say: Awesome story! Well done, Rosie.

 

[Juliana]

Very nice! Congrats, Rosie.

 

[ratsy]

yeah, great story Rosie!

 

[Serendipity]

Thank you, Glitch and team for publishing this story. Thank you Johneyjet, Juliana and Ratsy for your kind comments.

Aw shucks, you are all giving me that lovely warm and squishy inside feeling...