Writing Prompt - Genuphobia (fear of knees or kneeling)

I decided to try another writing prompt.  Enjoy!

Create a character that has an unusual phobia. Write a scene that causes that character to face his fear.

Alice Montgomery was a genuphobe.  She could not remember when her fear of knees first started.  There was not a traumatic event that she could remember.  She grew up in a normal, middle-class, Catholic family.  As her fear progressed she had to leave the Catholic Church because it required too much kneeling and she could not handle such a stressful situation.  Her parents were disappointed but they understood. 

Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery had always been perplexed by their daughter’s strange fear.  When she was a little girl, Alice would cry and shake hysterically if she fell and scratched her knee but she never let them care for or bandage her injury.  Eventually she stopped riding her bike and playing basketball in the driveway to avoid such injuries.  As a joke, her older brother, Malcolm, would sometimes put his knee pads on her bed.  Alice would become panic-stricken and refused to sleep in her own bed for weeks.  Her parents just chalked it up to a phase and didn’t pay it much mind.

When Alice was 13 years old, her fear had grown increasingly worse.  Her friends all joined the middle school volleyball team but Alice refused because of the knee pads and increased chance of scraping her knees.  Her English teacher was the girls’ soccer coach and tried to encourage Alice to join the team but Alice declined.  She knew that knee injuries were common in soccer.  She even refused to watch the World Cup with her family. 

One day in science class, Alice had been sitting at her desk diligently working on an assignment when the bell rang, startling her.  Alice jumped and hit her right knee on the cross bar that connected the desk to the chair.  For anyone else this would not have been a big deal but for Alice, it was terrifying.  She jumped out of her seat and began hyperventilating until she passed out.  When she woke up, she was lying on a cot in the school nurse’s office and the nurse had an ice pack on her bruised knee.  Alice screamed and kicked her leg up in the air to remove the ice pack, kicking the nurse in the nose and breaking it.  For months afterwards kids would tease her in the hallways and some went as far as to put knee pads in her locker just to watch her go to pieces.  Alice became constantly anxious and nervous both at school and at home.  Her teachers had to bring in tables that were not attached to the chairs because Alice refused to sit in the desks that everyone else used.

Her parents became concerned that Alice’s fear was not a phase and that their little girl might, in fact, be crazy.  Week after week they drove Alice to different pediatric offices hoping to find an answer.  Most of the doctors brushed it off as a childhood phase and refused to listen further.  A couple doctors gave her different medicines to try and treat the symptoms caused by her fear.  Most of those medicines made Alice very sleepy and sluggish.  Her grades started to suffer because she was falling asleep in class so often.  Eventually her parents gave up, as they could not find anyone who could help their paranoid daughter.  Alice stopped taking the medicine and her parents stopped taking her to doctors.  They just decided it was Alice being Alice and there was nothing they could do to help their daughter.

Throughout the rest of her teen years, Alice became good at avoidance.  Anything she thought would cause any contact with her knees she avoided.  She never wore pants, instead, chose to wear short skirts and shorts year round.  She stopped going to church.  She even refused to get her driver’s license because the steering wheel sat too close to her knees.  Alice did not have any friends and she was alone most of the time.  She spent most of her free time writing stories that took place in magical lands where no one had knees.  Her parents and brother grew increasingly concerned about her future and what would become of their peculiar Alice.

Alice went on to college to study writing.  She wanted to be a novelist so she could stay in her little protected world.  She wrote and sold her first story during her senior year.  The book was about a dancer who had her knees removed leading to a spectacular dancing career.  Alice’s book sold enough copies to sustain her for several years after graduation, during which time, she wrote several other books.  She was successful but was growing increasingly lonely. 

Alice went to dinner at her parents’ house every Sunday with her brother.  Malcolm was in college on a basketball scholarship and was the apple of their parents’ eye.  One particular Sunday, Malcolm brought home a friend from school.  His friend’s name was Thomas and Alice was immediately attracted to him.  She had closed herself off from people for so long that she had forgotten how nice a connection could feel.  Thomas appeared to be attracted to Alice as well.  Throughout dinner Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery doted on Malcolm, as usual.  Of course, Malcolm enjoyed the attention and spent most of the meal talking about his basketball games and how he was the star of the team.  Alice and Thomas stole shy glances at one another throughout dinner when they thought no one was looking.

At the end of the evening, Alice was in the kitchen washing dishes while the rest of her family and Thomas were in the family room watching a DVD of Malcolm’s most recent game.  While she was drying the dishes, Thomas slipped into the kitchen.

“Alice, I was wondering if you would like to grab a coffee with me later this evening,” Thomas said.

Startled by his presence, Alice jumped slightly but agreed, “That sounds lovely.  There is a coffee shop on Main Street.  I can meet you there at 9:00.”  Thomas smiled and then snuck back into the family room while Alice finished putting away the dishes.

That evening Alice and Thomas sat in the coffee shop talking until it closed.  Then they moved to Thomas’ car and talked some more.  As Thomas drove Alice home, she asked him some questions.

“Thomas, you didn’t tell me.  How did you meet my brother?”

“Well,” Thomas started, “I am studying to be an orthopedic surgeon so I have been shadowing the team’s doctor and that means attending practices and games.”

“Why would you need to shadow the basketball team’s doctor?” Alice inquired.

“I’m hoping to go on to work with players in the NBA and maybe some college players.  I plan to specialize in knee injuries,” Thomas answered. 

Alice froze.  They were five minutes from her house and she felt her heart start to beat faster and her breath quickened. 

“Alice, what’s wrong?” Thomas was concerned by the sudden silence.  Alice did not respond.  “Alice?” Thomas slowed down the car and pulled over to the side of the street.  Alice immediately jumped out of the car and started to run.

“Alice!” Thomas yelled chasing her down the street.  He was bewildered by this sudden change in his date.  “Please wait!  Please talk to me!”

Alice slowed down but not because Thomas asked.  It was dark and she knew that running increased her chances of tripping and scraping her knees.  She was breathing hard and could barely get any words out, “Please….take…me…to…my parents” and then she fainted.

When she awoke, she was lying in her old bed at her parents’ house and her mom was sitting next to her, worried.

“Honey, are you ok now?” Her mother asked and Alice shook her head.

“Where’s Thomas?” Alice asked, already knowing the answer. 

“He went home dear,” her mother said, “he was very worried about you and we explained your history.  I told him there was nothing else he could do here and to just go on home.  Then he left.”  Alice was not shocked that he left but she was surprised that instead of feeling relieved at avoiding him she, instead, felt sad.  Her mother sensed her sadness and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

“He left you a note, Alice,” her mother said.  “I wasn’t going to give it to you but your dad said I should.”  Mrs. Montgomery handed Alice the letter and then left the room.

Alone, Alice opened the paper with her hands shaking. 

Dear Alice,
I have never met someone I felt so connected to in such a short period of time.  I know that you suffer from genuphobia.  Please don’t let that keep us apart.  I know we can work through it together.  Please let me help you.  I will be waiting tomorrow night at the fountain in front of city hall.  If you want to be with me, please show up at 7:30.  I will be waiting for you.
Love,
Thomas

            Alice clutched the letter to her chest filled with so much emotion.  She knew she had felt that connection too.  She knew what she had to do. 

            The next night at 7:30, Thomas paced back and forth in front of the fountain.  He had not slept the night before; worried that Alice may not come.  He checked his watch every minute that passed 7:30.  He was willing to wait here all night if it meant seeing her again.  Finally at 8:15, he saw Alice walking up the street.  His heart leaped into his throat.  She’s here.  She feels this too, he thought.

            Alice approached the cross walk, the only thing separating her from Thomas.  He smiled and she blushed.  He could hardly keep himself from running to her but he did not want to appear too eager.  Alice started across the street and then stopped.  Thomas felt as if the whole world stopped in that moment, even the breeze that was whistling between the trees paused.  Alice looked down and pulled a piece of paper from her purse.  She slowly folded it length wise and then folded again.  When she was done, Thomas could see she had folded a paper airplane.  Alice held it up and threw the plane.  Without the breeze blowing, it glided swiftly towards Thomas and he caught it, his heart beating a mile a minute.  Thomas unfolded the paper and read.

Dearest Thomas,
I felt that connection too.  I have never connected with another human being the way I did with you.  My heart is filled with emotion.  This feels like something that only happens in the movies.
However, this cannot be.  I will never be able to look at you without seeing my greatest fear.  I will never be able to let you touch me without knowing where your hand has been.  This breaks my heart but this cannot go on any further.
I am sorry.
Love,
Alice

             Heartbroken, Thomas stared at the page for a minute.  No, he thought, I know we can work this out.  He looked up to plead his case but Alice was gone.  It was as if she had vanished.  His heart sunk.  Alice chose fear over love.  It did not matter what he said or did, he would only be a giant knee to her.