Matilda 1

* I'm not a native English speaker, so sorry if my English si clumsy sometimes :-) *

Matilda by StarDust

"You can't be serious," Matilda exclaimed, refusing to believe what her new friend had just told her.

"I swear," Christie laughed. "They just find it incredibly sexy."

"That's weird!" Matilda said with exasperation. "That's just insane... pervert!"

Matilda looked somewhat upset but Christie just kept laughing.

"You may find it odd at first, I definitely did too, but when you think about it more you will have to admit it's sort of logical after all. The Mother Nature or God or whoever had just arranged it that way and it makes perfect sense," Christie tried to explain.

"I can't believe that," Matilda insisted. "So you say that those... how did you call them?"

"Devotees."

"Yes, devotees. So you say they find us, disabled people, attractive?"

"Exactly! A missing leg for them is like F-sized breasts for tit lovers."

"I'm not missing a leg," Matilda stated matter-of-factly.

"That doesn't matter. They like other disabilities as well. They would be dying to help you with things that are hard for you to do. To help you stand, climb up stairs or... just whatever."

"They must be weirdos."

"Not at all, believe me. They just need some encouragement, otherwise they would start stalking you or somebody else and THAT could be really nasty. But if you accept them and show some understanding you can gain a nice friend - or even a lover - in them."

"Yeah, some ugly, dirty, dumb..." Matilda retorted but was soon interrupted by Christie's heartily laugh.

"No, you fool! You have no idea how far from truth you are. They are almost always very smart guys. Gentle and often handsome too. You just have to believe me on that, I know very well what I'm talking about."

The last Christie's sentence was accompanied by a satisfied, mischievous grin.

"Do you know some of them then?" Matilda queried, starting to give up. "I mean personally."

Christie's smile broadened.

"Look at me," she started, radiating happiness around her. "Anyone so severely crippled and disabled like me is supposed to be frustrated, depressed, sad, angry... you name it. Now tell, do I look anything like that?"

"No...," Matilda admitted seeing her new friend shine.

"Geeez, not for a second! At least not in last 10 or 12 years of my life! I'm a happy and absolutely content woman. I feel sexy - no, I KNOW I'm sexy! I know it damn well cause I have got many proofs of it already. I'm adored and treated as a highly desirable woman. Thank God for devotees!"

These words had managed to start dismantling Matilda's self-defense attitude. Christie herself was a perfect proof of what she was saying.

"Hmm...," Matilda uttered, somewhat lost in her thoughts. "Do you think you could maybe-"

"Sure!" Christie interrupted her enthusiastically. "I'll send you links to user groups where we all chat together. But... hmmm... Maybe I have a small gift for you. I will get you in contact with Rob directly. He's a very nice guy, I think you may like him. He will definitely like you, I know him well enough to be sure about that. I'll send you a contact to him."

Then she added: "But, hey - be nice to him, he is one of the sweetest boys I know." Another mischievous, joyful grin appeared on her face.

* * * * *

The day 'D' had arrived. Matilda was nervous as hell. The fear of unknown had been mixing up in her with the thrilling anticipation and desire. Yes, desire. Matilda's vivid imagination pulled on her natural shyness and was causing butterfly feelings in her stomach.

It was still more than 2 hours to time 'T' when Matilda stood in open doors to the wardrobe and looked over her dresses. She leaned heavily on her forearm crutches, dressed only in a bra and brief panties.

After a long while of hesitation and doubts, she decided to start with shoes instead. She backed off from between door wings and turned around. Her under-developed legs sort of dragged under her.

She crutched toward the shoe drawer. She kept her naked legs pressed tightly together, thus letting them support each other in the process. They were visibly shorter and thinner than normal legs would be, bare feet curled and disfigured badly. Only Matilda's knees looked normal sized and thus bulged on her skimpy legs. However, they didn't work properly either. Nothing from her hips down worked properly, to say the truth.

Matilda opened the drawer with shoes and quickly decided for the nicest ones she had possessed. They had a 2 inch heel which was more than enough for her small, disproportional feet. The heel was not a spiked one, but still quite small in diameter. She didn't wear them often because although she found them nice they made her walk less confident - which, in her eyes, made her look even more pitiful and uglier.

She hesitated a bit because she wanted to make the best possible impression on Rob. But then she recalled he was a devotee and as such was supposed to like her disability. Could it be that her unsteady feet would look more attractive to him?

'Jesus, that's weird,' she thought to herself and shuddered. But why not after all? These shoes were no doubt beautiful, so why shouldn't she be wearing them for a date?

She spoke with Rob couple of times over the phone. He really seemed nice and a smart guy. She expected he would quiz her about her legs, but he had never turned the conversation to her disability on his own. Only when she mentioned some trouble here and there with her legs, he showed an empathy and interest that she had not been used to. Matilda had to admit it was a pleasant change for once. Normally, people tended to change the subject quickly when her legs got mentioned.

With shoes held by straps between her fingers she took the grip of handles of crutches again, expertly turned around and passing by the bed she dropped them there. Then she went back to the wardrobe and with a lighter mood now she quickly selected the dress for evening.

After all, the variety of her clothes was limited. She usually wore an office suits that were elegant enough and reasonably modest to not repulse clients that might occasionally see her out of her desk.

Matilda selected a dress that represented a compromise - she wanted to wear a shortest skirt possible and of nice color too. The winner was a navy blue skirt ending well above her knees and a jacket of the same color with just two big fancy buttons in front, both placed very low, forming a big cleavage above.

Matilda rejected a standard white blouse and chose creamy-light brown instead, with gentle zig-zag stripes running from the top to bottom. Stripes were repeating colors - creamy, very light brown and a deep brown.

Matilda stacked selected pieces one on another, then propped her crutches inside the wardrobe, took clothes in her hands, paying attention to not wrinkle them and carefully turned around on her shaky legs. Then she started walking unaided to her bed.

Matilda's steps were absolutely unique. She could not control her ankles, so every time she lifted a leg, the foot drooped limply until it reached some inner limitations imposed by its deformities. When she then moved it forward and made the step, the foot just flopped, producing a soft slapping sound as it hit the floor. The left one seemed to droop less due to slightly different way how it was twisted inward and it also produced a noticeably different sound.

Knees, when not under pressure, bent normally as any other able-bodied knees would do. But when they had to bear some weight, they bent also sideways, the left one to the right, and the right to the left. This was really an odd sight because they looked as if they were just about to break. But Matilda knew that once they reached physiologic limits of their inner structure they got pretty stable and she could rely on them to bear her complete body weight.

Matilda's hips were somewhat narrow and also under-developed. The hip joints were misplaced a bit and due to the need to counterbalance for oddly bent knees they mis-developed even further. That's why Matilda lurched heavily with each step whenever she put her weight on one leg only.

The overall process of Matilda's walk was weird. She moved all her weight onto the right leg, the knee bent unnaturally inward, causing her body drop lower and lean to the right heavily. Then she lifted her left leg, foot drooped, planted it in front of her with the floppy sound, then she transferred her weight onto it, swaying her upper body to the other side and the knee bent shockingly inward too. Then the process repeated. Each time she wanted to bring one leg forward she had to describe a small arc with it to avoid the painful contact with the oddly bent knee under her.

Matilda's walking was not painful and definitely not that dangerous as it might have looked. But it was a slow process, all that strange folding of her legs under her took time and she could not hurry it up. She had to put weight on them carefully to avoid the possible injury and to be able to counterbalance properly and in time.

She was well aware of how odd and bothersome her walking looked for other people, thus she didn't use it very often. She preferred her crutches, especially in public as she was much quicker on them and while she kept her legs pressed together tight her knees didn't bend inwards. Partly because they shared the body weight together and partly because her knees supported one another then and prevented from moving in the wrong direction. But she was thankful she could move also without crutches what came handy when she needed to carry things.

She hobbled her strange slow way to the bed and placed clothes there. Then she went to the drawer with hosiery and picked a black pantyhose first. Then she thought more about it and put it back. She took the body colored one, instead.

She turned carefully and walked clumsily to the wardrobe again where she retrieved her crutches. She closed the closet door and with pantyhose in her hand went back to the bed. She sat on it and quickly removed her bra and knickers.

Then she stood up again and completely naked crutched toward the bathroom. Once in, she threw the bra and knickers into laundry bin and stacked the crutches by the wall nearby. Then she wobbled slowly into the shower and sat herself on the shower seat. She washed herself thoroughly.

* * * * *

Once fully dressed and made up, Matilda locked the door behind her and went on the street. It was already dark outside. She stopped a taxi passing by and let it drive her to the restaurant.

When she got off the car and looked around, propped on her forearm crutches, she found herself on the sidewalk right in front of the big restaurant building.

There was a wide flight of perhaps 10 steps leading to a small porch in front of the restaurant where the main entrance could be seen. On the porch she saw a silhouette of man leaning on the rail, looking over the sidewalk.

'Oh come on,' she thought to herself. 'That's so plainly arranged! You must have chosen this restaurant because of stairs! I bet you want to see me struggling on these steps and pervertly enjoy the view!'

While she was thinking about it, the male on the porch had noticed her and rushed down the steps toward her.

"Hi, I'm Rob," he greeted her with broad smile. "You must be Matilda, I guess."

"Yeah, I could hardly be mistaken with anyone else in the world," she said somewhat frustrated.

"Nice to meet you, lady," Rob didn't seem to notice the sarcasm and boldness in her voice.

Then he stopped in the circle of bright light from the street lamp and Matilda gasped.

He looked just awesome. Young, well built, wide shoulders and narrow waist, although not looking like a body-obsessed fitness fanatic. And on top of it - absolutely beautiful and innocent face. Somewhat square chin with a dimple(!) in the middle. Sharp cheek bones, light grey eyes and straight hair of the color of wet sand.

"Come this way," Rob said and pointed to the shadowed area somewhere beside the staircase. "There's a side entrance. I told them we would come that way to avoid those stairs. It's open for us."

Matilda felt ashamed for her previous thoughts and sheepishly pushed onto sticks and started to crutch the suggested direction. She could still not believe how handsome Rob was. He looked like something cut out from a fashion magazine.

He walked beside her leaving enough room for her crutch to move in a half-circle forward. They passed by the staircase and reached the area with rich vegetation beside it. When they noticed a small path between bushes, Rob rushed forward and took the lead.

They walked along rough pavement until they stopped in front of side entrance door. Rob pushed it, went in and held it open for Matilda.

"Pay attention to the trash hold, it sticks out a bit," he warned her softly and watched as she carefully crutched in.

They found themselves in a back corridor through which they entered the main dining room with tables and chairs arranged around. Most of them were occupied by customers.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a waiter appeared and greeted them. He seemed to know Rob and without asking led them to a less crowded area at the back of restaurant.

Their table was ready and quite spacy. Rob rushed to a chair that faced the inner of the restaurant and pulled it away from the table. He held it there for Matilda to seat herself safely.

Matilda was delighted with Rob's attentiveness and maneuvered her special body and legs between the table and the chair. Rob pushed the chair forward until it almost touched her legs.

Matilda leaned over and stuck her bottom backward a bit, then, still heaving onto sticks, she allowed her knees to bend and lowered herself onto the seat. Rob pushed her together with the chair toward the table slightly. Then he collected crutches from her and leaned them against the partition that separated them from the next table.

"Just let me know when you need them," he said.

"Thank you, Rob," said Matilda overcome by his gentle attention.

"You are very welcome," said Rob smiling and went around the table to take his own seat.

The table was situated by a large window, actually a glass wall that ran along one side of the room. The grassy area that surrounded the restaurant was lit by very short lamps stuck into the ground.

The waiter brought their menu cards and offered some drinks.

* * * * *

The dinner went well. Food was delicious and Rob was an easy guy to talk to. Matilda was shy and ashamed in the company of this handsome boy. It was Rob who led the conversation most of the time.

They spoke about food, of course, and Matilda was a brilliant cook. Then Rob spoke about the restaurant, apparently he knew it very well. It turned out he worked there as a student on part time.

The restaurant had two floors, both containing a dining area but the upper one had also a terrace and a cocktail bar. The surroundings were beautiful with grass, trees and a small lake nearby that could be seen from the restaurant during the day.

When main course had arrived they went silent finally, enjoying their meals. But then, during dessert, the conversation turned to Matilda's work.

She wanted to change the topic quickly, thinking it would be boring for Rob but soon she found herself speaking enthusiastically and Rob - was listening. Moreover, he was listening carefully and occasionally interrupted her with smart remarks and comments.

Matilda was overwhelmed. This must have been the nicest evening of her life. She felt so relaxed and at ease she hadn't felt for ages. And that all was topped up with the way how Rob had been looking at her. His eyes showed unhindered interest and admiration. The type of look she had not been used to.

After two glasses of wine Matilda felt a bit light headed. That's probably why she asked casually after they had finished their desserts: "Did you say there was a cocktail bar upstairs?"

"Yes, it's three," he answered. "Wanna have a drink there?"

"Sure," Matilda grinned, building a plan in her mind. If Rob was really a devotee he would surely appreciate some show. And as she saw it, he definitely deserved one for being so nice to her.

"Ok, let me pay the bill here and we can move to the upper floor. There's even a lift over there," he said and pointed to the corner of the room.

"I don't need a lift, I can manage on stairs," she exclaimed a bit more strictly than planned.

But it didn't seem to touch him. He just smiled broadly and said: "I'm sure you can manage. You seem to be very capable on your crutches."

Matilda blushed, this was the first time he actually referred to her disability.

Rob waved to the waiter and paid the bill. He insisted on paying the whole bill and didn't even want to discuss otherwise. Then he stood and went round to retrieve her crutches. In the meantime Matilda pushed herself back and turned sideways a bit.

Rob handed her the crutches and didn't make any attempt to look away. Instead, he watched her with curiosity and admiration.

Matilda positioned her sticks and pushed on them hard to pull herself into standing position. Rob put one of his hands on her back in a friendly gesture as if offering his support. With the other he pointed to the staircase to second floor.

Once at the bottom of stairs, Matilda handed Rob one of crutches without saying a word and grabbed the handrail by the free hand. The staircase was quite narrow and there were other people going down, so they had to go up one after another which was something Matilda had actually hoped for.

With one hand on the rail and the other gripping the crutch firmly, she pushed hard and sort of dragged her thin legs and deformed feet onto the next step. Then she let her weight drop slowly on shaky limbs and moved the crutch to the next step, shifting the hand on the rail further. Another push and her disfigured lower extremities flew higher.

Rob stayed behind her and although she could not see him she was sure he was watching her thoroughly. She imagined his eyes glued to her body-frame or even - and she shivered at the thought - to her legs! That was the show she wanted to award him with and hoped he was enjoying it.

Once on the top of stairs Matilda stopped and breathing deeply she waited for Rob to come around. When he caught up with her he placed his hand on her back again and gently guided her toward a cocktail bar separated from the rest of the restaurant.

It was much more crowded there but they managed to find an empty table at the side of the room. All the time Matilda was aware of Rob's protective presence right behind her as she had to find her way through narrow places in the bar. It made miracles to her self-esteem. She floated across the space almost proudly, despite the fact she had to drag herself on crutches, her crippled legs swaying below her.

Once seated and crutches stacked out of the way they ordered their drinks. The bar was much noisier than the dining room downstairs, so they had to move closer to be able to hear each other without need to shout.

Rob transferred his chair to the left of Matilda and she was suddenly aware of their legs touching under the table. She shivered from the excitement. And when he instantly took her hand in his and caressed it tenderly, hear heart started to race.

She felt tipsy, not sure if from the drunk alcohol or from the hormones that had started to rush through her body. On the other hand though, she felt absolutely content and secure, more self-assured than any time before.

She looked at him and surprised herself by the courage with which she asked him directly: "So you are a devotee, right?"

"Yes, I am," said Rob simply.

"And you like disabled women, don't you?"