Four Hooks

By Vicki

 

          Amy came out of the hotel room’s bathroom wearing just a pair of bikini panties. Her full breasts bounced slightly as she walked and her long blonde hair fell loosely around her shoulders. Her mother had laid out her clothes on the bed.

          “Mom, can you help me get into my bra?” One of the things Amy couldn’t do was put on her back hook bra.

          “Sure sweetie,” her mother replied holding out the bra for Amy to slip her stumps through.

          Her mother then fastened the hooks in back. It had been just about a year since 16 year old Amy had lost her arms in the tragic accident. She was not yet really adept at using her two prosthetic hooks.

          “Mom, can you dress me today? I don’t feel up to it,” Amy asked.

          “You know how I feel about that. You can’t always keep asking for help. You have to learn to do as much as you can by yourself,” Nancy replied.

          Although it might appear to be cruel, her mother knew it was best for her daughter to learn to be as self sufficient as she could. Unfortunately Amy was a bilateral above the elbow amputee and even with her two hooks she would have difficulty doing many things. A couple of tears ran down Amy’s cheek.

          “Oh mom, it’s so hard. I hate being this way. Everything is so hard.”

          “It gets better Amy, just give it time,” her mother said trying to soothe her daughter.

          “I know, but I just hate my hooks,” she said sadly.

          Nancy watched as her daughter struggled to pull her two stump socks up over her stumps with her mouth. Her arms ended only a few inches below her shoulders. She then slipped her right stump into the socket of her right hook, swung her prosthesis over her shoulder and slipped her left stump into the other socket. She shrugged a bit to get her harness up over her shoulders and into place. She tested her two hooks by opening and closing them.

          Amy then used her hooks to put on her socks, pulling them up and folding over the tops. She had to constantly position her elbows and then lock them before opening and closing her hooks. What took a normal person seconds to do, took Amy minutes. She then grabbed her shorts and stepped into them. She had trouble with the zipper even though it was equipped with a small ring she could slip her hook through. Finally she snapped the fastener that had replaced the usual button. Of course buttons were almost impossible for almost all bilateral hook users. Next came the arduous task of getting into her long sleeve tee shirt. Her long hair made it harder, but she refused to have her hair cut. Finally she got her top on with her hair caught inside. She went to the dresser and picked up her hair brush. Fumbling a bit she finally grasped the brush with her hook. A few minutes later she had her hair pulled out and combed as best as she could.

          “Mom, can you change my earrings? I want to wear the ones we got yesterday.”

          Although Nancy couldn’t manage her own earring if they were studs, she could insert studs into another person and secure them with the clip in back. She removed Amy’s earrings and inserted her new ones.

          “Dad will have to put a chain on you if you want,” Nancy said. “Do you want to try putting on a little makeup?”

          “Yeah, I guess so,” Amy said reluctantly.

          Amy then spent the next fifteen minutes putting on some eye shadow, liner, and mascara. She did a fairly reasonable job considering. She applied some blush with a little brush and finally a little pale pink lipstick.

          “Okay mom?”

          “You look great honey. The boys will fall all over you.”

          “Oh sure, as long as they don’t see these,” Amy said, holding up her hooks.

          “Well it didn’t make any difference to dad,” Nancy said.

          Amy glanced at her mother and the two shiny hooks that hung below her sleeves. It was ironic that Nancy’s daughter would become a bilateral arm amputee at the same age as she had. Up until her accident Amy never realized how difficult it was for her mother. Now she knew first hand.

          “Come on or we will be late meeting your father in the restaurant,” Nancy said.

          The two women grabbed their purses and headed out of the room and for the elevator. They had been at Disney World for two days and they all were anticipating another day romping around. Nancy pushed the down button at the elevator. Before it came, another family with two teen boys arrived at the elevator as well. They spotted the two women and their hooks immediately. The boy’s mother let out a little gasp.

          “Excuse me,” she said.

          “Oh that’s okay. We are kind of used to people’s reactions when they see us,” Nancy replied.

          “I am really sorry,” the women said now really embarrassed. “It’s just that I have never seen anyone missing both arms and it startled me.”

          “It’s okay. I am sure it’s even more unusual since we are both amputees,” Nancy went on.

          “I am so sorry. It must be difficult,” the woman said.

          “Sometimes, but we lead pretty normal lives.”

          “God bless you both, you are quite amazing.”

          The elevator finally came and they all went down to the restaurant. Bill, Nancy’s husband, met them in the lobby. He had a table reserved. He led them to the table and they all sat down. The waitress came a minute later. Both Amy and Nancy noticed the reaction when the waitress saw the two girls and their four hooks.

          Amy was not yet used to eating with her hooks, even though she had special utensils as did her mother. The handles of the knife, fork, and spoon were specially coated with rubber to provide a better grasp. They ordered breakfast.

          “Be sure to bring us lots of straws,” Amy told the waitress. “My mom and I can’t hold glasses very well.”

          “Sure sweetheart,” the waitress said. “Anything else you need you just let me know.”

          Nancy watched as Amy struggled to eat. She fumbled a lot and Nancy could see her daughter’s frustration at doing something that only a year ago was second nature. Now she had to concentrate on every little movement. She knew things would get better. She herself was so used to eating with her hooks that she hardly gave it a second thought. She knew Amy was very self conscious as she kept glancing at the table with the two teenage boys. They were staring at her. Nancy felt so bad for her daughter knowing that, like her, Amy would go through life always longing to have her arms back. She knew that every time Amy encountered something that she found difficult or impossible, she would want to cry. She too sometimes found being so very handicapped very difficult to accept. She was happy that she was an experienced bilateral hook user and could coach Amy. She couldn’t imagine being an able bodied mother with a daughter with this type of handicap without being able to relate to it first hand. Nevertheless, she still found it hard to face the fact that her daughter had lost her arms and, like her, would require prosthetic hooks for the rest of her life. She knew it was a very difficult handicap. She knew Amy remembered having arms. She herself had long ago forgotten what it was like. Using her hooks felt normal to her.

          After finishing breakfast the three of them headed for the bus to the Magic Kingdom. As luck would have it, the family with the two teenage boys was already waiting at the bus stop. Amy felt very self conscious around boys her age. She wanted to hide her hooks and tried to pull her sleeves down over them, but they weren’t long enough to hide her hooks completely. Her mother had long since stopped being as self conscious and never attempted to hide her disability. Amy liked to wear tops with long sleeves that she could pull down to hide her hooks. Many girls curled up their hands inside their sleeves in colder weather and looked to the world as if they had no hands. Of course everyone took it for granted that they had hands. When Amy did that she felt normal and never got a second look. When her hooks were exposed she noticed the immediate stares. Since it was warm, she had no choice but to let her hooks dangle at her sides for all the world to see.

          Amy missed being able to wear short sleeves or tank tops. She knew that exposing her full prosthetics would draw even more attention and she hated the way she looked with everything exposed. She knew she would probably always  wear long sleeves unless she wore a jacket. She envied the carefree abandon girls her age had wearing skimpy tank tops that emphasized their budding breasts. It was one of the things that continually bothered her about being armless. She longed to wear a skimpy and tight top with tiny little straps and her bra straps showing. She knew guys got turned on by that. Those days were gone forever, so she thought.

          Later that day they bumped into the other family at a ride. Much to Amy’s surprise, one of the boys made an overture to Amy.

          “Hi, I am Rick. What’s your name?”

          “Amy,” She replied.

          “This place is pretty neat isn’t it? Too bad we have parents with us. I bet we could have some fun on our own,” Rick said.

          “Well my parents like me to be with them,” Amy replied.

          “Amy, don’t worry about us. We are getting tired and if you want to venture off, you can. We just need a place to meet,” Nancy said.

          “Cool. Hey Amy, want to split from these old folks and have some fun?” Rick asked.

          Amy was completely taken off guard. No boy had ever wanted to be with her since her accident. One look at her hooks and they shied away.

          “Well, I don’t know,” Amy said timidly.

          “Oh come on,” Rick said. “I’m cool about your, uh, things,” he said.

          “You mean my prosthetics?”

          “Yeah, the hook things. Is it ok to call them that?”

          “I guess so. That’s what they are. Are you sure you aren’t turned off?”

          “Course not. I think you are really neat. Come on Amy, let’s have some fun.”

          Amy reluctantly went off with Rick. She was very worried about being independent of her mother and father. She was concerned that if she had a problem no one could help her. Sometimes she had some problems in the ladies room. She always had a feeling of helplessness knowing she had to rely on her hooks for everything unless she used her feet.

          “Hey Amy, want to get a burger?” Rick said. “I’m starving.”

“I guess so,” Amy said.

The two of them found a neat little restaurant with fast food. They went up to the counter and ordered. Amy went to get some money out of her bag. She still had trouble handling money. Rick saw her fumbling with the money.

“Treats on me Amy. Stop fooling with that money. I guess I better carry your tray.”

          “I can manage,” Amy said as she carefully grasped the two sides of the tray with her hooks. The last thing she wanted was to have this guy help her. She wanted so much to be normal. They found a table.

          “Can you eat a burger with your, uh, hooks?” Rick asked.

          “Well I can’t hold it or it breaks apart. I always use a knife and fork,” Amy said as she rummaged around her purse for her personal knife and fork.

          “That’s cool,” Rick said. “You’re really neat. What’s it like using those hook things?”

          “It’s pretty horrible not having arms,” Amy said as she started to cry.

          “Gosh, I’m sorry Amy, I am so stupid. I shouldn’t have mentioned anything.”

          “No, it’s okay Rick. It’s just that I have only been an amputee for about a year and I am not used to it. It’s pretty difficult knowing that you will be like this for the rest of your life. When I wake up in the morning I know I will have to face another day wearing my hooks or I can’t do much of anything. When I look at myself in the mirror and see my stumps I just about can’t stand it.”

          “I’m sorry. Please don’t cry.” Rick said apologetically.  “I can’t quite imagine what it’s like without arms or hands, but you seem to do things so well. Can I ask how you lost your arms and how long they are now?”

          “Yeah, okay. I was in a bad car accident. Both my arms end only a few inches below my shoulders.”

          “What about your mother? She has two hooks too. Was it the same accident?”

          “Oh no, she lost her arms when she was my age. That’s a long story. It was an accident where she worked part time. I really don’t know all the details. She doesn’t like to talk about it. Of course I have never known her without her hooks. I never ever dreamed that I would someday be just like her. I was always thankful I was born with arms. Now I know how she has felt all those years. My mom went sort of nuts when she found out they had to amputate both of my arms. I think she took it harder than I did.”

          “When I woke up and looked down and saw my two stumps all bandaged up I just about died. It was the worst thing I could have ever imagined. I didn’t think it was real. I thought it was a dream. Of course it wasn’t. They were gone forever.”

“Well I think you are really hot, and you know, your hooks kind of turn me on. It’s so neat to watch you use them.”

          “Now I have heard everything. Guys go the other way when they see me. You are very strange. I don’t think you have any idea how horrible it is to be like me, always needing to use these hooks instead of normal hands. I hate the way they look. People always look at me,” Amy said.

          “Yeah, maybe, but you are so cool. I like being with you. If anybody gives you a hard time I will kick their ass.”

          “Gee thanks Rick. That’s nice of you to say. My knight in shining armor.”

          “What was it like to get your hooks? Was it really horrible?”

          “Well I knew all about arm prosthetics since my mom always wears hers. The prosthetist didn’t know about my mom and he was really confused when I was fitted. I told him exactly what I wanted. I knew I wanted the same articulating wrist units my mother has, and I knew exactly what model hooks I wanted. The poor guy just looked at me.”

“When I went back for the fitting he started to explain how they worked. Of course I pretty much knew everything already. I interrupted him and started to explain to him how the locking elbows worked and that I would have to lock my elbow in place before I could open and close my hook since the same control cable worked both the elbow and the hook.  He gave up after that.”

“It was pretty traumatic when I put them on for the first time. Seeing my mom’s hooks was different. These were mine and would be for the rest of my life. That was the hardest thing to take. I looked at them with disgust as I opened and closed my hooks for the first time. I didn’t like how heavy they felt and of course I had no feeling. That’s one of the hardest things to get used to. I can touch things, but I really can’t touch them if you know what I mean. I can’t feel things like you can. I found I could do things really quickly since I had watched my mother do things all my life. The prosthetist just couldn’t fathom the whole thing.”

          “Most people fall apart when they first slip their stumps into the sockets. They finally realize that they will have to use their hooks the rest of their lives. It’s hard for them to accept using them or how they look wearing them. It wasn’t as bad for me since I was brought up with someone who used hooks and I was used to seeing them, just not on myself. It was pretty hard when I first saw my new body image in the mirror. The permanence of it was pretty devastating. Until my stumps healed I was completely helpless until I learned to use my feet. I would cry for hours.”

          “You use your feet?” Rick asked.

          “Oh sure. I learned really fast. They’re not like hands, but at least I can do some things naturally, without my hooks. I have to use my feet when I am not wearing my hooks. After I got home from the hospital I spent a couple of months with just my stumps. They had to be wrapped tightly for the swelling to go down. I was completely helpless until I learned to use my feet. It was hard to look at myself seeing only my stumps where my arms used to be. I cried a lot. You can’t imagine how it feels after surgery when you just have stumps. You want to use your arms, but they are not there.”

          “That must have been tough. Did it take you long to learn to use your hooks?” Rick asked.

          “The prosthetist said that in the first hour of training I was better than most people after a month. Of course he understood when my mother finally entered. One look at her two hooks hanging from her sleeves and it all finally made sense to him. Within a few months I could do about 50 percent of what I knew my mother could do. I am still struggling with the final 50 percent. My mother said it took her a couple of years to manage the harder things. It’s harder for me though. Her amputations are below the elbow and mine are above.”

          “Is that I big difference?” Rick asked.

          “Like night and day. I think I am at least twice as handicapped as my mom. Having elbows makes a really big difference. I will never be able to some of the really hard things my mom does. I am just not capable of doing some things because of the elbows. I really wish I had elbows. I can take the hooks, but not having elbows really sucks.”

          “So what can’t you do?” Rick asked.

          “How long a list do you want. There are so many things I will never be able to do. I have accepted that, but it is still hard,” Amy explained. “It’s tough knowing these are permanent and some simple things will always be impossible for me,” Amy said holding up her hooks. “Dressing is really hard. And I don’t want to go into how hard it is for me to go to the bathroom. Just use your imagination.”

          “Can I touch them,” Rick asked.

          “Sure.”

          Rick reached over and held Amy’s right hook. He inspected it closely. Amy explained how the control cable was used to open and close the hook. She demonstrated how she could press a little button and let the hook drop into several positions at an angle.

          “Bilats need articulating wrists or it’s tough doing things. If you have one real hand the hook on the other arm is just a helper you use every once in awhile. Since I have no arms I have to do everything with one hook or the other and sometimes both. Having two hooks is much harder than just one. Many one armed people don’t even use a hook on their missing arm. I would give anything to have one arm or to at least be a bilateral below the elbow amputee like mom.”

          Rick was completely taken with Amy and her two hooks. They spent the rest of the day together roaming around, laughing and having fun. Amy was happier than she had been over the last year. They met their families and headed back together to the hotel.

          Rick wanted to meet Amy after dinner and she agreed. He stopped by her room and they went outside. By then it was dark. Rick led Amy to a secluded place on the grounds and they sat down on a bench. They chatted for a while and Rick finally put his arm around Amy’s shoulder.

          “Amy, I think you are the most beautiful girl I have ever met,” Rick said. “Don’t say anything.”

          Rick held Amy tighter. He reached for her hook with his other hand and drew her closer. He then pressed his lips to hers and they spent the next fifteen minutes kissing and making out. Rick did the usual boy thing and touched Amy in all the right spots. Amy didn’t object as Rick slid his hand under her top and fondled her breasts. Amy reached out and placed her hook between Rick’s legs. She hoped he would not be turned off by her hook touching his now obvious erect penis.

          “Oh God Amy, that hook of yours is incredible. I think it’s better than a real hand.”

          Rick reached down and unzipped his pants and guided Amy’s hook to the right spot. Amy didn’t dare open her hook for fear she would hurt Rick so she just worked her hook around. She really wished she had a sense of touch, but of course that was no longer possible for her. Both of them were really turned on. Rick unsnapped and unzipped Amy’s shorts and placed his hand between her legs and massaged her clit. They both were turned on more than either had ever been.

          “So you like my hook down there don’t you?” Amy said teasingly.

          “Boy, do I ever. I don’t know why, but the fact that you have hooks is driving me crazy. I love them. You are so lucky you have them.”

          That was the wrong thing to say as Amy pulled away and immediately began to cry.

          “No I’m not. I don’t like having hooks for hands. Just because you like them doesn’t mean I do. If you had hooks you would hate them. They are horrible.”

          Rick held Amy until her sobbing stopped.

          “Oh Amy, I am sorry. I never say the right thing to girls.”

          “It’s okay Rick. I need to understand. I wasn’t prepared for your reaction. I guess I have to accept it even if it is a little weird.”

          The two of them talked for a while longer before heading back to the hotel. They each knew that they had strong feelings for the other. Amy especially, since no boys had taken any interest in her since she lost her arms and started wearing her hooks. She knew it was her hooks that turned guys off more than the fact that she had no arms or hands. One glance at the shiny metal protruding from her sleeves and that was that. Gone. They arrived at Amy’s room a short time later.

          “Amy, do you want to go swimming tomorrow at the hotel pool? You have a bathing suit, don’t you?” Rick asked.

          “My mom made me bring my bathing suit, but I hadn’t planned on using it. I haven’t been swimming since the accident. I have this little problem you know.”

          “Yeah, I guess you can’t swim in your, I can’t remember the term.”

          “Prosthetics. Just call them hooks. Calling them prosthetics doesn’t turn my hooks into hands. No, I can’t get them wet. I would need to take my arms off. People would not only see my prosthesis, but then they would see my stumps. I don’t know if I could handle that,” Amy explained.

          “Come on Amy, I will be with you. Don’t worry. People will be looking at your beautiful body and I bet they won’t care about your arms at all,” Rick pleaded.

          “Okay. I will see if I can gain the courage to do it,” Amy replied.

          The next morning both Amy’s and Rick’s families got together for breakfast. Rick introduced his younger brother Brian who smiled sheepishly. Nancy broke the ice about her and her daughter’s handicaps.

          “Irene, I want you to know that it’s okay to mention my and my daughter’s handicaps. I know that few people encounter arm amputees and certainly not two at the same time,” Nancy said.

          “You two are so amazing,” Irene said. “Watching you two manage without arms is quite inspiring. I imagine it must be difficult to do some things,” Irene said.

          “Oh yes, but fortunately our hooks allow us to do the important things. Some things are tough and some things impossible, but you just have to accept that,” Nancy explained. “The hardest thing is dealing with the way people treat us. The last thing we want is pity. We just want to be accepted as normal women. Of course we sometimes need a little help, but usually most people are more than willing to help us out. Amy isn’t comfortable yet, but I have been this way for so many years now that it is second nature.”

          “Well I can’t imagine how I would face such a disability,” Irene replied. “I guess when you have no choice you go on living.”

          “I was quite devastated when Amy lost her arms. It was especially bad when I found out her amputations were above the elbow. Mine are below. I knew that meant that Amy would be quite a bit more handicapped than I am. I never imagined my daughter would need these things like I have. My heart just broke when I first saw her wearing her new hooks. But we will get over it and go on.”

          The subject turned to lighter things and the topic of the two women’s handicap didn’t come up again. They chatted about their mutual vacations. After breakfast Amy and Rick went to their rooms to change into their bathing suits. Nancy helped Amy with her bikini top. She couldn’t put her top on by herself. Nancy knew that and offered help without being asked. After Amy was in her bikini she got into her prosthesis and slipped on a beach jacket and took a look at herself in the mirror. Just her hooks were visible below the sleeves of the jacket. Her two full breasts were filling the cups of her bikini top and except for her hooks she looked like any gorgeous teen girl.

          “Oh mom I just hate these damn things. I know I look okay in my suit, but my hooks just spoil everything. Everyone will just see them,” Amy said with a couple of tears running down her cheeks.

          “Amy, just don’t think about them and you will be all right. Pretend no one can see them.”

          “But they can. I hate them so much.”

          Nancy held her daughter in her arms while she cried. Nancy knew how she felt as she had many bouts with the same feelings the first few years after she lost her arms. A few minutes later Rick knocked on the door and he and Amy headed for the pool.

          “Wow Amy, you look great. What a bod!”

          “Yeah, except for these,” she said holding up her two hooks.

          They arrived at the now crowded pool. Of course Amy was instantly aware of the stares. After a few minutes people stopped looking as much. They found a couple of recliners and put down their stuff.

          “Amy, lets go in the pool,” Rick said.

          “I don’t know Rick. I have never exposed my prosthesis in public and never ever my stumps. I don’t think I can do this.”

          “Sure you can Amy. Besides, in the pool no one will see your arms,” Rick said.

          “Okay, help me out of my jacket.”

          Rick helped Amy take off her jacket. Her prosthesis was now fully exposed. Rick stared.

          “Oh God this is horrible. You see how terrible I look now. You can see all the things I try to hide. Seeing my hooks is bad enough, but my arms are worse.”

          Rick saw the two sockets that Amy’s tiny little stumps fit into. Those were held in place by straps that went over her back and met at a metal ring below her neck in back. Four additional straps were attached to the control cables that were used to operate her hooks. Amy’s forearms were attached to her sockets by special elbow joints. One control cable was used to lock and unlock Amy’s elbows. The other cable was used to both raise and lower her forearms as well as open and close her hooks when her elbows were locked. Rick saw that Amy was wearing special socks that were inside her sockets. For some reason he started to get really turned on.

          “Can you show me how they work?” Rick asked.

          “Sure,” Amy replied. “Well I use one cable to lock and unlock my elbow, like this.” Amy demonstrated by using a special motion like rowing a boat. The lock on her elbow clicked on and off.

          “If my elbow is unlocked then my other cable raises and lowers my arm. If it is locked then the same cable opens my hook.” Amy demonstrated how she raised and lowered her arms and opened and closed her hooks.

          “That’s really complicated. I guess that’s why it takes you a little while to get your hooks in the right position, but you make it look easy,” Rick said.

          “It gets automatic after a while. I don’t much think about it now, I just do it.”

“So let’s get your hooks off. You can put a towel over them so no one will see them. Can I help?” Rick asked.

          “Okay. You see the metal ring in back just below my neck? Grab it and I will slip out of my arms. Hold on, they are pretty heavy.”

          Rick did as instructed and Amy slipped out of her prosthesis. She was now standing there just wearing her stump socks.

          “Okay, just pull off my stump socks,” Amy said.

          Rick carefully pulled off Amy’s stump socks exposing her two short stumps. He could see the telltale remains of the sutures where her stumps were stitched. Other than that Amy had two perfectly rounded little stumps. Rick was in a near state of orgasm. He thought her two stumps were incredibly sexy.

          “I feel so naked Rick. No one sees my stumps except my mom and dad. I must look horrible to you. I always feel so helpless without my hooks on.”

          “You look fantastic. It’s nice to see your great figure in your cool bikini. I don’t even think people will notice all that much.” Secretly Rick wondered what Amy would look like if she had no stumps at all, just smooth shoulders. He thought he would like that very much. Nothing to mar the line of her shoulders meeting her body just above her full breasts.

Of course Rick knew that people would notice Amy, but he wanted to convince Amy it was okay. They headed for the pool and slipped into the shallow end. They sort of walked and swam into deeper water where Amy’s stumps were below the water. Now no one could tell she had no arms. They splashed around and Amy tried to swim. She moved her little stumps like she would her arms but they were next to useless and she knew she really couldn’t swim very well except kicking like crazy with her feet.

Amy started to feel better and the two of them even jumped off the diving board. At times Amy even forgot she had no arms. Exhausted they came out of the pool and headed back to their recliners. Rick helped Amy dry herself. He was gentle when he dried her two stumps.

“I want to get back into my arms now Rick,” Amy said.

“Okay, but wouldn’t it be nice to lay in the sun. You need a tan. It would be better if you left the arms off.”

Amy finally agreed and the two of them sat in the sun. Amy started to relax when she realized that hardly anyone was staring any more. Rick offered to get some food at the concession. A few minutes later he came back with some burgers, fries, and two cokes. Amy was about to get back into her hooks to eat.

“Amy, don’t bother. I can feed you. Enjoy the sun.”

Amy reluctantly agreed. The two of them laughed as Rick fed Amy her burger. She knew she had no choice without her hooks. She had to be fed like a baby. She remembered the first couple of months after her amputations, before her stumps were healed, when her mother had to feed her. Somehow being fed by a boy was different. It was kind of fun. Rick had fun too. Amy started to completely loosen up. Rick reached over and ran his hands over her arms and stumps. Amy let him do this.

“Amy, what does it feel like to have your arms end so short? Does it feel like you still have arms, only you can’t move them, or is it different?” Rick asked.

“Well I sometimes feel that I still have my arms. Sometimes I even think I am moving my fingers. It’s kind of strange. I guess my brain thinks I still have hands. If I close my eyes I can sort of feel that I am opening and closing my fingers like I would if I wasn’t grabbing something. Of course there is no sense of touch. It’s weird. My mom says that eventually the phantom limb effect pretty much goes away, but I still have it. Most of the time I just feel my stumps. They feel like little arms. Not having hands to open and close is sometimes a little frustrating. Sometimes I find myself trying to open and close my hands. It’s not phantom limb, its just that I kind of want to force them to be there. Of course they are not.”

Later in the afternoon Amy got back into her hooks with Rick’s help. He was so gentle when he slipped her stump socks over each of her stumps. He held her prosthesis while she slipped her stumps into the sockets. Once again she was functional. She could now pick things up and comb her hair. She no longer cared about the stares as she grabbed her hair brush with her hook and ran it through her hair. She was so happy to be with a boy who really liked her for who she was. She realized she wasn’t covering up her prosthesis. Everyone could see her arms. It wasn’t as bad as she thought. In fact she had a crazy thought to wear a tank top.

“Rick, would you like the way I looked if I wore a tank top and you could see my arms?”

“Sure, that would be cool. You look great to me any way you want to be.” Rick thought to himself that he would like nothing better than to be able to see Amy’s sockets, elbow joints, and control cables full time. He knew he would not be able to take his eyes off her prosthetics.

Later that afternoon Amy and Rick went shopping and Amy bought a cute little tank top. She couldn’t imagine she was considering wearing it the next day. She knew the sales clerk probably thought she was buying it for someone else and that she would never wear something like that. Amy was thinking that she didn’t care and wanted to wear whatever she wanted and the hell with what people thought. She was special and her hooks were just as much her as other people’s hands. Rick had really seemed to change the way she felt about the way she looked to other people.

That night when Amy had a moment alone she sat on the bed, removed her shorts and panties. She dropped her two hooks into the fully articulated position. She spread her legs slightly and used her hooks to massage her pussy. She rarely masturbated, but was so turned on by Rick that she couldn’t resist. She worked one of her hooks into her vagina. She was soaking wet. She gentle massaged her clit with her other hook until she reached orgasm. She then lay there exhausted and satisfied. She thought that maybe having hooks wasn’t so bad after all.

The next morning her mother was dumbfounded as Amy slipped on the skimpy tank top exposing her prosthesis except for a small part of her harness in back. Amy looked at herself in the mirror. She knew she would draw a lot of attention, but somehow didn’t care since she would be with Rick. Even her bra straps were showing beside the spaghetti straps of the top. What did a couple of bra straps matter when all her hardware was showing.

“Wow! You look cool Amy,” Rick exclaimed when he saw her at breakfast.

Amy knew it would be hard for people not to stare when they could see not only her hooks, but the rest of her elaborate prosthesis. Amy overheard a comment from a nearby table.

“That poor girl. Can you imagine having no arms and having to wear those heavy artificial arms and using metal hooks? Her mother is that way too. I feel so bad for them. I wonder if they were born that way.” Amy tried to ignore the comment, but she knew she was an object of sympathy.

After eating they headed for the park. Amy didn’t even have a jacket since it was in the 90’s. She knew she would have no choice all day. Everyone would see her hooks, sockets, harness, control cables, the works. Nevertheless she felt more normal wearing the kind of top girls her ages were wearing on this hot day.

Amy was so hot in the afternoon that she did something really far out. She went into the ladies room and pulled her tank top up to her neck. She slipped out of her prosthesis and stump socks. She then used her stumps and feet to pull her top back down and carried her prosthesis out of the ladies room with her stump. Rick’s jaw dropped.

“Now I feel cool,” Amy said. ‘Of course you might have to help me with a few things Rick. Lets see if we can get a shopping bag to hold my arms.”

They asked for one at one of the shops and Rick placed Amy’s prosthesis in it and carried it around. Amy seemed not to be self conscious about the fact that everyone could see her short little round stumps. The two teens had a wonderful time on the rides and just walking around. Rick fed Amy a burger and the two of them giggled when he missed Amy’s mouth. Amy felt more normal sine she was cool in the heat and knew her breasts were the main attraction for Rick and other boys. Amy noticed that she got some stares, but not as many as she expected. She said to herself that it was their problem and not hers. She was her own person and being armless was just the way she was. Of course she knew she wasn’t really functional, but Rick was there to help.

          That day really changed Amy’s outlook on her handicap. She knew she could attract boys and that she didn’t have to be self conscious about her handicap. She and Rick had a great time for the rest of their vacation. As it turned out, Rick lived about an hours drive from Amy and when they returned home they started to see each other on a regular basis.

Rick was Amy’s date at her junior prom. She was so proud as they walked in together with Rick holding her hook. She looked absolutely fabulous in her long sleeve prom gown, with her two shiny hooks just showing beneath her sleeves. Amy even felt a little proud of the fact that she had hooks and could do so many things with them. She even started to think that being armless made her really special. She knew she was special to Rick. He was certainly hooked on her.