My Aunt lost her leg in the great leg debacle of 96.
A combination of bad luck and bad medicine.
She lived with the shame, of being, as she put it, a half woman.
In 01 she was given a wooden leg, a beautiful piece of mechanical engineering that enabled her to get around and regain her independence.
But her confidence had been shattered.
She rarely went out.
She became a recluse.
She hated having her photo taken.
In 03 her doctor who had been responsible for the leg’s manufacture asked her to pose the leg for him as he was preparing a paper for a medical journal. The photo would greatly enhance his claim that such a leg had the ability to restore a person’s functionality.
My Aunt never wanting her face to be shown with the leg demanded the right to pose as you see her today.
My Aunt could never rid herself of the thought of being a partial person.
Written for: http://caveofscribes.starvingactivist.com/2014/10/20/scribes-cave-picture-prompt-44/
Morpethroad 
Heartbreaking, Michael.
It is sad isn’t Mandy how people perceive themselves which is often in contrast to others see them.
Oh, so very true, Michael.
Poor Aunty. I wonder how many people actually felt like that. I think she was courageous just having an artificial leg at her age. Good story, Michael. You’ve managed to elicit sympathy for your character–always a good thing for a writer 🙂
Thank you Lyn, I appreciate your comment and visit as always.
Such an interesting photo and story to match. I would mention jake the peg ..but thought better of it 😊
Glad you didn’t Jenny. Not so politically correct these days.
Oops forgot 😝
Great take on the prompt. A melancholy match for sure. Thank you so much for writing and I hope to see you continue each week!
Thanks for the encouragement, I shall look for your prompt next week. This was a good challenging one.