Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To Fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after

* * * *

The hill was more than a hill, closer to a mountain but not as craggy and irregular. Jill’s fall felt like an eternity down that steep grassy slope, with a series of unending rolls that reminded her of a scene from The Princess Bride. The one where Westley says Aaaas Youuuu Wiiissh. Jill tumbled and bumped down the hill with an omph over rocky terrain and a swish through silky green grasses. And she wondered, as she rolled, why she had not noticed how high up they were before she fell. She wondered why Jack had chosen that hill to climb and if he was okay where she had left him. She also wondered why she had felt the slightest pressure of a hand on her shoulder just before she lost her balance and fell.

That’s how large the hill was and her long fall gave her time to consider all the things that had been plaguing her as of late. Why had Jack been coming home later and later these days from the fields? He always arrived with a tired sigh and small appetite for Jill’s homemade mince pies. They used to be his favorite.

Jill’s back was getting sore from the rolling but she was getting used to the spinning. She kept her elbows bent and hands in front of herself protectively. She tried to stop herself with her feet, but that only served to make her tumbling less coordinated and more painful. She had to give in to the fall and roll with it until she reached the bottom.

As she fell, her mind wandered. She remembered something Jack had said that afternoon before they went on their prolonged hike. She had noticed that the blue False Indigo flowers outside of the window were beginning to die in the morning cold of Autumn. Jill commented on how sad she would be when she could not look out from her window and see those pea-like petals each morning. Jack looked out the window, past the dying Indigo towards the asphalt road that led into town, and said quietly, “Nothing remains the same.”

Abruptly the fall came to a stop with a thump and a moan from Jill. But the spinning did not. The spinning sensation continued and she struggled to stand and look around for Jack. Standing only caused Jill to find herself smacking hard against the ground a second later. The landscape around her tilted and jerked her with no sensible pattern or rhythm. She squinted in the direction of her farm but could only see the teeter toter of the horizon. She looked left and saw a billow of smoke trailing into the sky somewhere in the distance. Unable to walk she crawled and dragged herself in that direction at the mercy of her unbalanced equilibrium.

As the sun was setting, she reached her home on hands and knees and found it empty. She crawled to her bed and cried out for Jack. He did not return home that night or the next day. Or the day after that. In fact, he was never seen again. But Jill remained in bed, only crawling out to relieve herself or have a bit of bread. She knew she should call her mother for help, but talking over the constant dizziness seemed an insurmountable task. A task that would have to wait until she could stop the spinning.

Three days after her fall, Jill’s mother June came by to check on her. Jill had not answered her phone or her email which was very unlike her. June found her lying on the floor of her bedroom weak and dehydrated, talking to herself. Jill kept her eyes closed and said she could not bear to look at the spinning earth. June could not find any sign of her son in law and his things were gone from the home. She believed Jill to be depressed and immediately took her to a doctor.

From that point on Jill saw many doctors and specialists, but not one had a cure for her. ENTs, Cardiologists, neurologists, psychiatrists all found no evidence of a specific diagnosis. They offered her drugs like Antivert, Dramamine, Valium, and Phenergan with no effect. Over time Jill worked with a physical therapist to learn to manage daily tasks through the constant ataxia. She was entered into the Guinness Book Of World Records for having the longest ongoing case of vertigo and holds that record today. She traveled very little and saw friends and family even less. Her only relief was going to the community park and sitting on the merry-go-round. As she spun around and listened to the metal creak and turn, she would lean back against the bars and let the sun wash over her. She let her hair fall down and fly about her face. And as the trees and playground bark spun past her eyes, she felt content.

Jill never saw Jack again. But she learned through some Internet research that she was not the first woman left in his destructive wake. His real name was Jack Sprat and not Jack Horner like she thought. He had a habit of hurting those around him. He left his first wife (that Jill had never known about, he went by the name Peter then) trapped in an enormous pumpkin at a state fair for two days before anyone found her. She had to eat her way out and doctors said she consumed so much beta carotene, her skin had a permanent orange hue. Before that, Jack had lived with a woman on a farm in the next town over. He sold her livestock for some genetically engineered seeds that were supposed to grow amazing and abundant crops. Instead they grew large beanstocks that choked out all the other crops and ruined the woman’s family farm. As a child, Jack had committed arson and burned his families’ home to the ground with some candles. His mother died alone in a nursing home alone some years before Jill had met him.

Jill went on with her life and eventually fell in love again. She married her Physical Therapist. They wrote a best selling book titled, As The World Turns: A True Story Of Love And Vertigo.