With this horrible cold that has entrenched itself into my head, I have been awake a fair bit of the nights lately.
Last night was no exception. In fact, last night was quite busy!
Clock said 3:42 am. My eyes were wide open. I was trying to get comfortable and then hopefully, be able to sleep more. The cold was taking it's toll.
Then, the strangest thing happened. I closed my eyes a while later for perhaps 3 seconds and reopened them. I closed them again. Reopened them. Nothing was registering. We have a night light on all night.........I'm claustrophobic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It all happened very quickly. Husband had taken to the other room to sleep a few hours earlier, as my constant coughing/wheezing/snoring/sneezing must have been too much for him. Good thing too.
In my claustrophobic, hysterical state, I leaped out of bed and took the few steps toward the east window, banging my arm on the dresser and my foot against the clothes hamper, all the while grabbing for the cords that would open the blinds allowing in the much needed light from outside. It didn't happen. Oh, I got the blinds open alright but no light came in. Nothing. Black.
I could feel my heart beginning to race. Not good. I needed to find a match. Where did we put those danged things when we moved here. I couldn't remember. And I've never tried to walk throughout this new place in the dark. The old place, I new by heart. Here it was a grope and fumble and stumble kind of search. And I didn't want to wake poor husband.
Yes, well, it was extremely dark, my heart was racing, I frantically needed to get air, my foot and arm were throbbing from the bedroom incident and I needed to find light. ANY light.
A car went by. I raced towards the front window and the lights of the car were the only lights I could see anywhere! It went by far too quickly. I was stuck there. How far were those table legs and couches and plants and cabinets. Not a clue. Off I went yet again, groping and fumbling my way into the hallway. No major mishap this time.
I could hear a beep.....beep.....beep.....beep.....beep.....beep. What the heck was that???? I WAS NOT going to go and look for the noise but I knew I needed to. It could have been the alarm system. Yes. I do recall that happening before. But I still needed a light. This called for excessive action. I awakened husband.
What???? Huh?????? Where?????? He'd been finally sleeping deeply but I needed to get him to help me find a light. It was panic by this time. I managed to say "I need a light"!!! His reaction probably could have been "please don't start smoking again after 30 some years......not now, in the middle of the night!!!".....He only said "what do you need a light for...just flip the switch". So, in his grogginess and my growing terror, we somehow managed to communicate with each other that no, I wasn't smoking and yes, if I didn't have a light on pretty soon, I'd be running outside, somewhere, some place and in my PJ's too!!!
He found his pants which carries a lighter (I should have thought of that) and FLICK, there was light. I quickly found a candle and my breathing began to slow and I didn't feel like I was turning into some kind of "case".
Away I went back to bed, and with candle in hand, I placed it on a glass plate atop the dresser. Into bed. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Now to sleep.
What if that candle fell over and started the place on fire. I would never be alive to forgive myself. Back up. Recheck the candle. It sat firmly in place. No worries. Back into bed.
Head hit the pillow.............beep........beep.....beep.....beep.....beep......beep. We never did figure out how to turn that dreadful alarm off. The clock above my head ticked out the seconds. I counted. Yep. Every 60 seconds those 6 beeps would announce that the power was out. So instead of counting sheep, I took to the ticks. I started making up little songs and short poems. I imagined doing the two step or exercising.
With a huge hummmmmmmmmmm, the power came back on. Good thing too. I was running out of imaginative scenarios. Blow out the candle. Back to dream land.....but not before a bathroom break, fixing my sheets, taking some cough medicine, and one loooooooooong nose blow. Where does all that stuff come from anyway. I just blew my nose 20 minutes before.
Tonight, there will be a flashlight under my pillow.
3 comments:
That was a good story, mom. MY heart was racing while just reading it! That's a good sign, I think.
Ya, well you should have been here!
I NEED open spaces and like the old song goes "I need land, lots of land, under starry skies above, don't fence me in...........etc, etc,"
Funny YOU should comment on this one my dear. It was when I was pregnant with you, that my very first claustrophobic experience occurred.
Did I pass it on to you, perhaps??
Nope, not really, though if I'm crammed into a really small space that I can't get out of on my own, I started getting a little freaked out.
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