A Long Nap

I gazed out an open window. The curtains looked different. Were they always this sickly green color? The tree looked different as well. Had it always been this close to the house, with the multitude of birds singing loudly? What else is different, I think.

My bed feels the same. But the blankets are different. I don’t remember this pink thing covering me. And the white coverlet, light as a feather but warm. When did that get put on my bed?

“Well, there she is! Welcome back. You’ve been gone a long time, sister.” Janeen sat beside me on the sagging mattress. She looked old.

“What? How long did I sleep?” I moved to the chair in the corner, feeling just a bit shaky.

Janeen yelled for Martin. He soon appeared, looking quite astonished.

“Look who woke up.” Janeen now was crying.

“Welcome back, sister. We’ve worried so. Glad to see you up and about.” Martin sat beside Janeen. The mattress sagged a bit more.

Now I was confused. Why were they worried? I just laid down for a nap.

“Alright you two, what’s going on. Tell me why you’re welcoming me back. I’ve been right here, taking a nap in my bed.”

Janeen and Martin exchanged glances.

“What! Tell me what is going on!”

“You’ve been in a coma for twenty years, Alice.”
“Impossible. No one can survive for that long in a coma.” I stared out the window. A wren landed on the branch nearby, babbled his happy tune.

“You did. And look at you! Sitting here and talking to us! I’m going to call the doctor.” Martin marched out of my room.

“But Janeen, I was just taking a nap. I had the most glorious dreams. I was in a camp, with children. I think they were from the Crow tribe. I learned to set up a teepee. I learned to bead a moccasin.”

“You were here all the time. We watched over you all those years.”

“And then after that I was on a lake. I had a husband. We rented this boat. We motored around a lake. He caught a fish. We had a picnic,” I told Janeen. “Then we went to an island.”

“You don’t have a husband. You’ve been in a coma for twenty
years, Alice. In fact, you’re a celebrity! I’m going down to call the TV station now…” Janeen rushed out of my room.

I wanted to go back to that island, find that husband. Continue that conversation we were having. That embrace that was interrupted.

My bed called to me. I’m very comfortable, it said. Come, lie down for awhile. So that’s what I did. As I fell back into that deep sleep, I saw that man. He was still waiting for me.

W/C 463