Aurora Again
by Mel Lees
There’s that damned hallucination. I keep seeing those black things flitting just outside my visual range. Rubbing my eyes doesn’t get rid of them, so I’m sure they’re not floaters.
Slowly dread grows in the pit of my stomach. Is death on my tail? Am I getting an advance sighting of my end? A few weeks ago, I fell and broke my arm below the shoulder. That shouldn’t be cause for concern, even though I’m 87. Nah! It’s just a broken bone and that never killed anyone. What about Knapp’s mother-in-law? She got a twig in her eye and died within two months. She was quite a bit younger than I.
That has nothing to do with me. I’m in good physical shape,
What about the last time I was really ill? I remember seeing insects flying around, but when I swatted them, nothing was there. This morning I was half awake and a bug sat on my finger; it was about a half-inch long and covered with short black hair. It resembled a caterpillar except for a bulbous head and a pair of eyes that stared at me. Bang. I swatted it with my other hand. I got it. Only nothing was there.
Oh, please don’t start with the insects again. My stomach churns and the ache spreads from the pit to the whole belly, Should I try to get up and out of bed? Suppose I can’t manage it and the dark things win?
The dog jumps on the bed and the spell softens. All alien forms and shapes disappear. My stomach does not unknot. In a few minutes, I regain a semblance of normal thinking and manage to take a shower. No more insects. No more black visitors buzzing around me.
I make breakfast, eat and read the paper. My mind settles down as I read that the Lakers won last night. I feel sleepy and crawl into bed with my clothes on.
In seconds, I’m asleep. The dread returns and my stomach resumes the distressed ache. More than a dozen moths fly around my head and drop caterpillars on me. As fast as I shake them off, others replace them. I turn and shudder, moan and scream. Each time I throw one off, it leaves an itching lump. My brain freezes and I’m unable to protect myself. Those black creatures flow from the room through my eyes and hover around my broken arm. They are tearing away the new bone growth.
“Stop, “ I shout. “You’re tearing away my progress.”
I receive no reply, but my soul feels it each time one of the black devils tears at my flesh or bones. I know that when all the new bone is gone, I shall become a slave to the dark-clothed men. Desperation floods my body. I see a faint light in the back of my brain. Expending all the will I have remaining, I call to that light.
It has to be. It is. The beautiful fairy I had seen so many months ago is there to save me. I watch her rise from the creek that runs by my side porch. This time there is no squirrel to waken me with a dropped walnut. This time I will be with my beloved and, together, we will defeat those minions of death.
I think back to the other time I had seen her. I was dozing on the deck overlooking the creek and amazing things happened. A ring of animals formed a circle around the running water and some fairies arose from the depths. The fairies flew in a wide circle and everyone at the stream became silent. Not even a bird sang.
There rose up the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I spread my arms and she approached me with her arms reaching for me. At that instant, a walnut was dropped on my head and I woke. She was gone. Her name was Aurora. That much stayed with me.
Now, we reach for each other and as we touch, elation floods my being. All my yearning vanishes. A flock of white angels rests on me and the black floaters disappear and I instantly feel relief from the constant arm pain I had endured.
Aurora takes me by the hand and we fly from the room and out of the dimension. Over clouds and mountains, through wooded dales and down at ocean level we fly. In an instant, we settle among giant trees. Hundreds of white-clad angels fill the glen. They sing as one great chorus and it seems that my love and I are being serenaded.
All the blemishes that those hideous insects inflicted on me vanish. I never felt better in my life. Each cell of my body absorbs the power that re-enters my life. I am immortal. I am all-powerful. I am ready to go back and defeat those black floaters and their legions of insects. Me to the challenge!
Back we go to my sickroom. I see myself lying in the bed and the dark creatures are busy poisoning my body. The two of us, plus a team of angels, tear into the invaders. It’s mayhem. My love and her companions slash. We punch. We hammer and we destroy them as an army. Even their insect allies run from us. Soon, I am lying in a peaceful setting.
While a band of angels flies around us, we lie in each other’s arms until I fall asleep. When I awake, I am alone. The pillow beside me is warm, but I am alone. My mind recalls all that had happened, but I am alone.
Black floaters, horrible insects and hallucination would I gladly face again to be with my angel. Does she really exist? The warm pillow is proof enough for me. Something inside my head tells that we’ll be together again. That’s no hallucination.
Copyright © 2009 by Mel Lees
