There was cheering, the sound of sneakers squeaking on the floor, and dribbling. That’s what everyone at the basketball game heard, everyone except Jackson. Jackson has schizophrenia, and he heard this differently. He heard screaming, fighting, pounding, and stomping. What everyone at the game saw were other people and team flags waving but, Jackson didn’t see this. He saw bats, bugs, and in place of team players, aliens. He didn’t cheer, just stared at his shoes the whole time.When the game was done, his sister, Amy, came up to him. Amy watched and took care of Jackson, even though he was twenty-six, because of his schizophrenia.
“Hi!” Amy said with a smile.
Jackson replied, “Hi.”
“What did ya think of the game?” Amy excitedly asked.
“There were way too many aliens!” Jackson said looking around with his eyes bulging.
“Jackson you were imagining all that!” she sighed.
“Oh really, that’s a relief!” he exclaimed.
“Why don’t we get some ice cream and head home?” Amy said.
Jackson nodded approvingly and got up.
Fifteen minutes later Amy and Jackson were at the ice cream stand ordering their favorites. Amy had raspberry chocolate chunk, and Jackson had chocolate chip cookie dough. Although the high that day was one hundred degrees, there were few people at the ice cream stand but for Amy and Jackson, that wasn’t surprising. This ice cream stand was not well known in Lewis, and there were plenty in the rest of Delaware.
After a two mile walk, Amy and Jackson arrived home. Jackson ran into the house and flopped on the couch while his sister was still outside. When Amy came in, she asked, “What do ya want for dinner?”
Jackson gave a confused look then replied, “We just got ice cream. Why think about dinner?”
“Jackson!” she exclaimed, “We’ll have dinner at five like always, but I need to know what you want.”
“I want……,” Jackson trailed off.
“Jackson, JACKSON!” Amy said waving her hand in front of his face.
“Hold on, the voices are back, and it is really hard to think,” Jackson said. “I think I want steak and mashed potatoes.”
“Oh great, the voices are back.” Amy moaned
“Not like I can do anything about it!” Jackson yelled his face so red Amy thought it might melt off.
“Well I’ll have to go thaw the steak ok? I’m sorry I got mad. I’m not mom you know.”
Jackson’s face went totally pale, “I know you’re not mom, and no one could be. It’s just I forget sometimes.”
Jackson and Amy’s mom died two years ago and ever since it had been really hard on Amy.
“Well I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me k?” Amy said in a reassuring voice.
“Ok,” Jackson replied.
As Amy went down stairs to the kitchen, Jackson lay on the couch and flipped through the channels. He settled on a movie channel that was doing a marathon of scary movies. Within a few minutes Jackson could no longer keep his eyes open and fell asleep, and when he woke up it was to the smell of wonderful food cooking. He stumbled down the stairs to find his sister setting the table. He remembered when he was first diagnosed; they had to put him through therapy so he wouldn’t be afraid of eating utensils.
“You fall asleep?” Amy giggled.
“What gave you that idea?” Jackson said sarcastically.
“I can hear you snoring,” she joked. “So any interesting dreams, I know the voices influence them.”
Jackson pondered for a minute, “No, not any I can recall.” Then he added, “When can we eat?”
“In a second, I have to get some napkins for the table,” Amy answered.
“The table needs napkins?” Jackson muttered.
“No, I mean I need to get napkins on the table for us,” Amy explained.
Jackson helped set the table and ate dinner. Amy was happy Jackson had gotten so far with his schizophrenia. It happened right after their mother died, Jackson couldn’t handle it. Amy felt really bad for him and felt even worse about getting mad at him earlier. She always was hoping that it would go away, the doctor said it might. That’s what Amy looked for every day, and it did seem to be getting better every day little by little.
When they finished dinner, Amy and Jackson went up stairs, to the living room, to watch T.V. They settled on a channel and sooner or later they found themselves falling asleep on the couch.
“I’ve got a game tomorrow don’t forget,” Amy said heading to her room.
“Ok, I won’t. I promise!” Jackson replied. “Good night!”
He found himself thinking about his mom. He was more accepting of her death now and was ready to help Amy feel better, and he couldn’t wait to go to her game! That even shocked him, yesterday he was dreading going. With that he happily went to sleep.
. . .
The next morning Jackson woke up first, so he deiced to make breakfast. He set the table, washed the frying pan, a spatula, and the waffle iron. He grabbed a cookbook and looked up Amy’s favorite waffle recipe. He found everything he needed and a bag of chocolate chips, which he added. Then he made scrambled eggs and bacon.
When Amy came down, she was shocked. Jackson hadn’t been able to do this since before their mom died; she wondered if her wish came true.
After breakfast they got ready for the game and walked to the court. When the game started, Jackson saw and heard the same thing as everyone there. When his sister came over Jackson said, “I think the schizophrenia is gone!”
“Really, you saw the game as the game?!” Amy asked excitedly.
“Yeah, I cheered and jumped and whistled! It was great!” Jackson exclaimed.
They ran home and Amy called the doctor to make an appointment for Jackson. That night they made dinner, talked, and had a lot of fun.
. . .
The next morning Jackson was still fine and after breakfast they went to the doctor’s office. Finally after a bunch of tests and questions, the doctor confirmed that Jackson was over his schizophrenia. Amy’s wish had come true and Jackson was normal. That night they went out to eat and Jackson drove the whole time. The next day he applied for a job at the local café and was accepted. He helped Amy pay bills and did chores around the house. He went to her games and cheered her on all the time now. That’s how things went from then on, and all Amy could think was that it all happened with a wish.
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