You
should have seen Abner in the old days. He was the life and soul of the party.
He knew how to work hard and to play hard. If there was something going on in
the village, the chances were, Abner was at the heart of it. Everyone knew him.
He was the local character who made children laugh and the ladies blush, the
sort of man everyone wanted to invite to their do.
That
was before his accident. Quite what Abner was doing up that tree is a matter of
debate. Some was he was preparing another one of his practical jokes. Some say
he was trying to help his neighbour. Abner himself never said. All we knew
there was a loud crack of a branch breaking, a shout and then a dull thud. We
found Abner lying on the ground dazed. Now it wasn't the first time Abner had
been knocked out, and we thought he'd bounce back as usual. It was only when we
tried to get him to his feet we realised the awful truth. His legs just didn't
work any more.
Days
passed, then weeks. We all prayed and hoped that there would be some sign of
improvement, a slight movement of his foot or a bend of his knee. But nothing.
Abner just lay there, unable to move. And it wasn't just his body that was
injured. Something changed about Abner during that time. This happy, outgoing
character became angry and moody. There were times when you just couldn't say
anything right to him. Sometimes he would scream at you to leave him alone. He
often didn't even thank us for all that we did for him.
continued
continued
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