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Nine Lives
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Allison



Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 4216
Location: Florida
Nine Lives

Part One
My heart raced at a beat that threatened to burst from my chest as I ran blindly in the darkness. My lungs burned with a lack of oxygen and the muscles of my legs were depleted of energy. The humid night was deep black, the light of the moon hidden behind clouds as tree roots reached out to grab my ankles, causing me to stumble. My hands landed hard on the rain soaked ground and the soil held my hands prisoner as I struggled to pull free.

I could hear the lioness call in the distance and I knew she had picked up my scent. Fear rushed through my body and out my pores soaking my clothing in sweat as I managed to climb back to my feet and resumed running.

The moon broke free from the cloud cover just in time for me to discover I was running straight for a rock wall. Instead of fleeing from the big cat, I discovered all too late that she had been herding me, and she pushed me toward a boxed canyon lined with rocks. There was no time to reverse my direction to escape the trap she had so cleverly laid for me and my only chance of escape was to climb.

The rocks were jagged, but I managed to get a grip on my hysteria and a rock jutted above my head and I began to climb. I could feel the rock puncture the skin of my hands as I fought to grip the jagged edges. I could feel the warm rush of blood as it mixed with sweat and flowed down my outstretched arms. The coppery smell assaulted my nose and I knew the lioness would soon reach the scent. My ears picked up the slow movement of her paws in the bush and I knew her approach was imminent.
My left hand lost its grip on a rock as the rain began to fall lightly making the rock even more difficult to grasp and as I dangled from one arm, I foolishly looked down. Fifteen feet below me sat the lioness, licking her lips in expectation of the meal to come, her yellow eyes glowing in the faint light. She watched me as I lunged to regain my grip, pain searing down my arm as my muscles were completely exhausted. My feet gained solid footing, taking the pressure off my shoulders which both felt like they were dislocated and I rested for a moment. I could not prevent my eyes from looking down to find her smiling up at me. She knew my time was near and was willing to wait patiently until my body exhausted itself or I made a fatal error in judging a move.

I closed my eyes and tried to ward off the pain in my body as I struggled to catch my breath. My body was starving for oxygen to feed my muscles and I forced myself to take slow, deep breaths as my body rested perilously on a narrow ledge. My ears perked at the sound of movement beneath me and when I opened my eyes, I found that the lioness had been joined by two of her hunting mates. The sight of three pairs of glowing yellow eyes staring up at me outraged me and I cursed them as I stretched upward to climb higher.

My fingers grasped the slippery rock giving me false hope and as I moved my right foot to climb higher, my body failed and I began to fall. Time seemed to freeze as I felt my body falling. In seconds my body would hit the ground and then I would feel the sting of sharp teeth as the hungry carnivore’s teeth ripped into my flesh.

Oddly, I could feel the wind, cool on my skin as I fell and just when my body was about to crash back to earth, I sat straight up in my bed a scream resting on my lips. My clothing and linens were soaked with sweat as I sat in the middle of my bed gasping for breath. I felt a movement on the bed as Sasha my cat jumped onto the bed and sat staring at me with glowing yellow eyes.

Sleep had never been an issue for me, but as I began my forties, my nights and dreams became more restless. I looked at the clock to discover it was nearly five and decided to get up and shower. As terrifying as the dream had been there would be no hope for sleep again this night.

Part Two

Weeks passed and the dream of the lioness faded into memory. Work was heating up and I had spent many late night hours burning the midnight oil just to stay within the timeframe the boss had assigned for the project. I was relieved when Friday came and I could go home and collapse into my bed for some much needed sleep.

I ate a light dinner with a glass of white wine before I showered and climbed naked between the cool sheets. I closed my eyes and allowed sleep to take me. For hours my exhausted body rested, muscles relaxing as the tension left my body.

The dream started off pleasantly. I had spent a long weekend up in the mountains and had awakened to a fresh blanket of snow on the morning I was to return home. The smell of evergreens filled my lungs as I loaded my bags into the car. The crunch of the snow under my feet was a crisp sound to my ears as I walked to the driver’s side and slipped behind the wheel. The heater was working overtime and the inside of my car was toasty as I put the car in reverse and started down the mountain. The location of the cabin was so isolated, the county did not provide snow plow service and the storm that had hit that morning was early for the season. So, snow covered the winding road as I made my way down the mountain.

When I reached the end of the drive and turned on the highway, the snow began to fall again and visibility was limited. There was no other traffic in sight so I was determined to take my time and slowly navigate the winding curves that would lead me off the mountain. I had driven this road for many years and felt I could drive it with my eyes closed. As I maneuvered through the switchbacks my eyes drifted over the edge to the sharp drop off down the mountain. I was still above the low hung clouds so I could not see the base of the mountain.

The weight and the momentum of the car going downhill increased my speed and I knew there was a rather treacherous curve ahead so I began tapping my breaks to slow my car. My heart dropped to my stomach when my foot touched the brake pedal and it plunged to the floor board of the car. My brakes were gone and my foot pumping the pedal furiously was ineffective in restoring pressure in the lines and I quickly began to pick up speed.

Desperate, I tried to use the parking brake to no avail. It slowed the car enough to make it through the first curve, but quickly burned out and I was rolling freely down the mountain. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel and tried to keep the car away from the edge of the road. The guard rails were rather flimsy and would not withstand the weight of my vehicle. The speedometer crept beyond thirty miles per hour as I made it through another curve and as my eyesight searched the road ahead, I could see a logging truck fully loaded heading up the mountain. He was still several curves away, but at the speed I was travelling I would be lucky to maintain enough control over the car to keep it in one lane and safely pass by the truck.

As it turned out, the truck was not an issue. The next curve was too tight for the car to make at nearly forty miles per hour and the sliding of the tires on the snow made it impossible to keep it on the road. I did not have time to try to escape the car before the passenger side slammed into the guard rail and the car sailed off the side of the mountain. Suddenly, the clouds seemed to lift and I could see the tops of the fragrant evergreens all too clearly as the nose of my car lowered and I rushed toward solid ground.

I screamed in my dream and as the scream ended I woke with a start, again sitting bolt upright in my bed. Exhausted from the dream, I laid back on the bed and when my eyes started to close I crept from the bed and took a cold shower. The last thing I wanted to do right then was sleep to risk the chance of another dream.

I sat at my kitchen table sipping coffee and watched the sun rise above the horizon. My eyes were burning from the lack of sleep, but the terror of the dream remained fresh in my mind. I poured a second cup as Sasha walked into the kitchen and stretched and then wound her body around my legs. A strange thought hit me at that moment. If I were a cat I would have used up two of my nine lives, I thought and a shiver ran down my spine.

Determined to get some sleep, I drove to the nearest drug store and bought some over the counter sleeping aides. Tonight I would take a dose and hopefully get the rest my body so desperately needed. I spent the day completing chores and could not resist the temptation of a late afternoon nap. I turned on the television and stretched out on the couch and was soon joined by Sasha who curled up on my stomach.

Sleep quickly overtook me and I awoke two hours later, feeling more rested than I had in weeks. I cooked a light dinner and watched a movie, sharing my popcorn with a purring Sasha. At nine, I walked into the bathroom and took a dose of the sleeping aide. The instructions said to take it within an hour of going to bed so I chased the bitter pills with a glass of water and returned to the couch.

Twenty minutes later, my eyes grew heavy and my head began to nod. I walked to the bedroom and stripped off my clothes and crawled into bed for what I hoped would be a restful night’s sleep.
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Alli

Post Sun May 20, 2007 1:15 am 
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ghost



Joined: 06 Nov 2005
Posts: 2828
Location: MIA


ooohhh a new story!!!!!!!!!!!!

alli my love, you are so versatile, i swear i dont know how you do it.

great write, now where are the 7 other lives?? lol, you know i have to nag...

love ya
ghost
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Post Sun May 20, 2007 7:55 am 
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Allison



Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 4216
Location: Florida


Still brewing baby. LOL

Alli
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Alli

Post Sun May 20, 2007 1:40 pm 
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Allison



Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 4216
Location: Florida


Part Three

The sleeping aide worked wonderfully and I slept the night through. I woke up refreshed and ready to face the day ahead and worked diligently to prepare for the coming week. Later that night, I again took a dose of the medication and slept peacefully that night.

Over the next two weeks I took the remainder of the sleeping aides and slept well with no more of the terrifying dreams. When the medications were gone, I decided to chance an experiment and attempt sleeping without them. The first night passed calmly, but the second night, the dreams returned.

I was drawing a bubble bath to relax in and just as I was stepping into the deep tub, I lost my footing and my head struck the back of the tub. I blacked out immediately and when I came too moments later, I realized that I could not move. The blow to my head must have broken my neck and I was paralyzed from the neck down. Even more to my horror, I looked to see the water was still running, filling the tub quickly with water.

As much as I willed my arms or legs to work, their failure to respond led me to the realization that I would drown in my own tub. My heart pounded in my chest as the water level continued to climb and I tilted my head back to prolong the inevitable as long as possible. When the water covered my face completely I closed my eyes and held my breath as long as I could. My lungs burned intensely and I had no choice but to open my mouth, drinking in the strawberry bathwater. The water rushed into my lungs and it would just be a matter of minutes until my world would go black.

I awoke with a start to find Sasha licking my face with her coarse tongue. I reached up to pet her trying to calm my nerves and could swear I smelled the faint scent of strawberries on her coat.

Later that morning, I returned to the local pharmacy to buy more sleeping aides. My dreams were threatening my sanity and I feared sleep without them.

The medication worked perfectly that night and I vowed to forever give up bubble baths. Even the smell of strawberries made me nauseous after that night so I purged my home of everything that had a strawberry scent.

Part Four

For months, I continued to consume sleeping aides at night, my body becoming dependent on them for sleep. I continued to sleep well, but I recognized that I had begun to dream again when I awoke several mornings in a row with the same dream in my memory. It was a pleasant dream for as much as I could remember so at first I did not panic.

Each night though, the dreams became more active and my body felt less and less rested when I woke the next morning. I checked the instructions on the package to verify that I was taking the correct dosage and after a conversation with a local pharmacist, I learned my body had built up a tolerance to the medication rendering it less effective. He recommended a medication with a stronger dosage and advised me to seek my physician’s advice if the stronger medication did not work effectively.

With high expectations, I took the medication later that night and watched television while I awaited the calming effect of the medication to start. The news played a special on the war in Iraq, highlighting the number of deaths that had occurred to American soldiers since the invasion began which deeply disturbed me. I turned the television off and went to lie on my bed, willing a peaceful sleep to come.

I stared at the ceiling and tossed and turned in the bed for hours before finally exhausting my body. When sleep finally came, violent images of war flashed through my mind and I decided to get out of bed and stay awake the rest of the night. I sat on the couch watching a comedy hoping the laughter would help to keep me awake. After an hour I felt my eyes growing heavy and I could no longer battle the need for sleep. I closed my eyes and sleep quickly captured me.

I found myself standing in the desert, surrounded by shattered vehicles and burned out shells of buildings that once had been homes. I could hear footsteps around me and looked to find fellow soldiers as they ran to take cover as a raid was about to begin. I looked down in my hands to find a hot M 16 and my body began to move. I followed the path of a young male for a few minutes until a loud booming sound stopped me dead in my tracks. My eyes froze on the young man barely ten yards ahead of me who had stepped on an active land mine and I watched in horror as his body was torn apart by shrapnel and he died instantly.

I looked around the ground littered with the debris of war. My mind quickly deduced the two choices I had facing me. I could take my chances running through the mine field or I could wait for the invading enemy forces to arrive to either kill me or take me captive. I had heard many stories of the horrible treatment of American GI’s in captivity so I began to run. I was halfway across the field and saw a fellow soldier waving frantically to me and for a moment, I felt that my luck would hold. Then I heard and felt a soft click under my right foot and felt my body flying through the air. When my body struck the earth, my world was filled with darkness.

My body convulsed so violently, I threw my body from the couch and landed with a loud thud on the hardwood floor. I hand struck my hand on the nearby coffee table, but was relieved when I opened my eyes and found all my body parts intact.

I made a pot of strong coffee in an effort to calm my shaken nerves and sat at the table giving serious thought to my mental status. Sasha sat in a chair next to me and I realized four of my nine lives had expired and I wondered what would happen when I reached life nine.

I drank coffee until the sun came up and then I took a shower and got dressed. I waited for the office to open and I called in sick for the day. My boss was startled by the sound of my voice. In the five years I had worked for him I had never called in sick and I could hear the concern in his voice. I thanked him for his concern and told him I would be back to work the next day and then I dialed up my doctor’s office and demanded to be worked in as soon as possible.

I brushed my teeth and when I looked into the mirror, I was startled by the image looking back at me. There were dark circles under my eyes and the shallowness of my cheeks was definite evidence that I had lost weight. I grabbed my keys and flew out the door and sat impatiently in the lobby of the doctor’s office until my name was called.

I told my doctor about the dreams I was having and the difficulty I was experiencing falling asleep. He chastised me for waiting so long to come see him and wrote me a prescription for a stronger sleep aide and sent me on my way. I had to wait nearly an hour at the pharmacy to fill the prescription so it was late afternoon before I made it home.

I cooked dinner and found that I didn’t have much of an appetite and ended up storing most of the food in the refrigerator. I went to the bathroom and took a hot shower and then swallowed two of the capsules per doctor’s orders and lie down on the bed waiting for sleep to come.
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Alli

Post Mon May 21, 2007 12:19 am 
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ghost



Joined: 06 Nov 2005
Posts: 2828
Location: MIA


aww now i m getting worried too....

good imagery and yet another nail-biter. good work, allilove.

love
ghost
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Post Mon May 21, 2007 4:20 am 
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Tracey



Joined: 30 Dec 2005
Posts: 1489
Location: Ayr, Scotland


4 down 5 to go?

another great story from you alli!
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I know I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here.

sometimes i wonder... ' why is that frisbee getting bigger'... and then it hits me

Post Mon May 21, 2007 10:31 am 
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Allison



Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 4216
Location: Florida


Thanks Ghosty. I thought I'd try something a little different Wink

Alli
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Alli

Post Mon May 21, 2007 11:42 am 
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Allison



Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 4216
Location: Florida


Thanks Trace. I am glad you are enjoying the read!

Alli
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Alli

Post Mon May 21, 2007 11:43 am 
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ghost



Joined: 06 Nov 2005
Posts: 2828
Location: MIA


me thinks my baby got lost in la-la land...

MULU
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Post Mon May 21, 2007 11:25 pm 
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Allison



Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 4216
Location: Florida


La la land? Hmmmm.

Alli
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Alli

Post Mon May 21, 2007 11:28 pm 
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Allison



Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 4216
Location: Florida


Part Five

Restful sleep continued on the new medication for a few weeks and the dark circles under my eyes disappeared and I again had an appetite. I was beginning to feel like my old self again when the dreams returned.

I found myself at a ski resort, riding the lift up to the top of the mountain. I loved snow skiing and treated myself to several weekends each season. The slopes were dotted with colorful parkas as the skiers descended the mountain. My ski tip touched the ground and I leaned forward to step off the lift just as I had many times before. I then spent several minutes stretching to warm up my muscles before I was scheduled to start down the mountain. I was about to head down one of the more advanced trails, so I didn’t have to worry about beginners falling down in front of me creating hazards as they rolled and tumbled their way down the mountain. I did however have to concentrate on technique to be able to ski the trail to its potential.

It was my time and I stepped off a small starting ledge, eyes fixed on the blinding white snow ahead of me. I could only see three other skiers ahead of me so my trail would be fairly clear and hazard free. I had safely maneuvered roughly a third of the mountain when I heard a loud rumbling sound. I chanced a look back over my shoulder and my eyes grew wide as I discovered the source of the sound. The weight of last night’s fresh snowfall had become too great and the top of the mountain came roaring toward me in an avalanche, sweeping away everything in its path.

I tucked my body tight to increase my speed as I raced for my life through the wooded portion of the trail, praying that I could make the safety of the bottom of the mountain before the wall of snow caught me. My body felt like it was frozen in time as I dared look back again to find the wall of snow barely yards behind me and I knew it was too late. The first wave of snow took my legs out from underneath me and I desperately fought to hang onto my ski poles as my body was covered in snow. My body was trapped under an unknown amount of snow and movement was near nil as I tried to press my way into a seated position. I used my arms and legs to push the snow away from my body to create and air pocket around my body before the weight of the snow crushed the oxygen away. Surrounded by snow, I hoped that I was sitting upright instead of upside down and I used my poles to try to reach the surface. After a failed attempt on the first try, I tried to relax and conserve my remaining oxygen and prayed that I would be rescued in time.

The space around me remained coldly silent as I waited for sounds of rescue workers to approach, but the sounds would not come for hours still. By then, it was too late and I had succumbed to a combination of lack of oxygen and hypothermia. When the rescuers finally located my body, frozen stiff some six hours after the avalanche, one of them shook his head and said, “It’s a shame she didn’t have the foresight to use her beacon.” Wrapped around my neck under a layer of sweaters was my rescue beacon. Had I activated it after the avalanche it may have improved my chances of survival, but in my panic, I had forgotten the device around my neck.

Five lives down I forced myself to wake up and sat sobbing on the bed as I feared I was losing my mind.

Part Six

I was certain that I was going insane and I called my doctor and pleaded with him to make a psychiatric referral for me. He eventually consented even though her was sure I was just going through a difficult time of my life and an appointment was arranged for the following week.

I no longer felt confident that the medication could prevent the dreams from returning, so for the next three nights I refused to allow my body to sleep, hoping that by depriving it of rest I would sleep soundly the next night. Unbeknownst to me, I was enabling the dreams by depriving my body of rest and on the fourth night, I dreamed.

My subconscious was ruining every activity I ever enjoyed. I no longer desired to escape to the mountains for relaxation or skiing and the thought of a bubble bath made me nauseous and even watching the news on television reminded me of the senseless lives being lost to war. Now, my dreams had taken me into the desert, where I loved to hike and climb among the many rock formations in the area.

I was climbing up to one of my favorite perches when I heard the terrifying sound of the rattles of a rattlesnake preparing to strike. I could not pinpoint where the snake was and even stepping backward did not put enough distance between the snakes sharp fangs and safety. The snake lunged and its fangs sunk into the exposed skin of my upper thigh, barely missing the femoral artery that would have meant almost immediate death as the toxins would have rushed directly through my system to wreak havoc on my heart and brain.

I flung the snake as far away from my body as I could and managed to work my belt from my waist to apply it as a tourniquet to my upper thigh. I reached into my pack to retrieve my snake bite kit and managed to withdraw some of the poison from my body. I was nearly a mile from my vehicle and the poison and hot sun were working against me. My only chance for survival was to reach my jeep and drive to an area where help could be obtained, so I began the painful walk across the desert.

I could feel the poison working through my body. My vision began to blur and I vomited trying to purge my stomach of its vile contents. Anxiety coursed through me causing my heart to race, speeding the poison to its final destination even faster. I was losing fluids quickly, but the snakes bite would kill me before dehydration so I continued my desert trek. My head was swimming and I thought I could see a vehicle approach so I used the remainder of my strength to wave down the approaching vehicle.

The young couple in the jeep spotted me and had me safely loaded into their vehicle just as my vision failed and I went blind. My tongue had swollen so thick, I was unable to talk as they rushed me toward the nearest hospital. The closest hospital was over twenty minutes away and I doubted my body would last that long. My fears were confirmed as I felt the pounding of my heart increase and then suddenly without warning it stopped.

I sat straight up on my bed gasping for breath and my hand flew to my neck to see if my heart was still beating. My fingertips easily found my jugular and my heart was indeed racing at top speed as I looked wildly around my room.

Six lives down and three to go.


Part Seven

The following day I had my first appointment with a Psychiatrist. After listening to me ramble on for an hour about my dreams and difficulty sleeping he tried his best to calmly insure me that I was not going insane. He did not want to start me on any additional medications until he had ruled out physical causes for my dreams so he scheduled me for a sleep study the following week and once that was obtained he would send me to have a CAT scan and MRI’s run.

Feeling somewhat relieved that I wasn’t losing my mind I returned home that evening and swallowed a double dose of the sleeping medication and washed it down with a glass of scotch. I was determined to get some sleep that night without dreams. So went the best laid plan.

It was deep into the morning hour when the dream began. It was a hot, dark summer evening and I could hear the blare of sirens. I was clinging onto the back of a fire truck and we were rushing toward an apartment fire. Initial reports stated there were victims trapped inside so every valuable minute counted.

When we arrived on scene we were informed that a woman and her two children were still inside a third story apartment. Grabbing our gear, the Captain and I rushed into the building and ran as quickly as we could up the rapidly deteriorating stairwell. We located the apartment and rushed in to find the mother overcome by flames and two small children crying by her side. The Captain quickly picked up the woman and headed back out the door with orders for me to bring the kids. I picked up the small boy and girl and had just about reached the door when the apartment exploded from a back blast and my body was propelled from the room. I landed on my stomach twenty feet away with a child tucked safely under each arm. The air rushed from my body and I fought to gain my breath.

I could look down the landing to see that the Captain had made it safely to the next level and had been met by several firefighters who had carried the young mother through a window and down to safety. I could also see that the landing my feet should have been running down was no longer there, consumed by the flames from the back blast. I looked back into the apartment that was filled with flames and I knew the unprotected children would never survive an escape through that avenue so I searched for another way. Down one floor looking up at me, my Captain calmly said, “Find a way.” The children were small and I felt that I could throw them far enough to reach the Captain safely as I radioed back to him my plan. Once they were safe, I could make my way back through the apartment and out a window. My safety equipment would protect me in the growing flames.

I picked up the little girl and walked to the stair railing. I looked down to make sure the Captain was in position and I took three steps back and ran to the railing using my forward momentum to help me toss the child the needed distance. I watched as the little girl landed safely in his arms and was handed off to another firefighter. I returned to the little boy and repeated my technique and watched him sail safely through the air.

“Good job, now get your ass out of there,” the Captain said through the radio. I turned and stepped back through the apartment door just as the gas stove exploded. I was flung into the wall and knocked unconscious by the blow. My oxygen tank was nearing E as the kids were rescued and the exertion of my efforts depleted the remaining oxygen and my lungs filled with searing smoke. I never regained consciousness and was the only victim of the fire that night that failed to survive.

I woke myself coughing furiously and walked outside to my balcony to breathe in deep breaths of clean cool air.

Seven lives down and two to go.

Part Eight

Two nights passed without dreams and it was the day for my sleep study. I checked in and was given orders to change into my pajamas and lie down on the bed. I stretched out and waited for the technician to come in and explain the procedure and I watched as she began to attach small electrodes on my body. “Relax,” she said. Yeah right, I thought who in their right mind could relax with all these wires dangling from their body.

It was difficult lying flat on my back, but sleep came easier than I had expected. The lights were dimmed and my eyes grew heavy and then finally closed. Maybe it was sleeping in such a different environment and knowing that someone was monitoring my every moment, but when the dreams came they were even more bizarre than usual.

I opened my eyes and looked down at my body. I was clothed in the orange jumpsuit typical of prison dress and my legs were shackled together. My hands were cuffed and then secured to my waist as I was being led down a dimly lit corridor. I shuffled along with the escort of two prison guards who remained mutely silent.

We reached a small door and when it opened to a small stage my knees turned into jelly. The two guards caught me by my arms and steadied me on my feet. In the center of the small stage sat an electric chair and I was obviously about to become its next guest. I was walked onto the stage and lowered into the cold, wooden seat. My hands were un-cuffed and placed on the arms of the chair and firmly strapped down. Then the shackles were removed from my ankles and secured to the legs of the chair. There was a plexi-glass wall in front of me and in the reflection of the spotlight I could see the top of my head had been shaved. My body shuddered with fear as I watched a water soaked sponge placed on the bald spot on the crown of my head and covered with a large electrode which was securely strapped under my chin. I could sense movement behind the plexi-glass, but could not see through into the darkness.

The two guards that had escorted me stepped to the side and stood at attention as a third guard entered the room and stood before the chair. He had the blackest eyes that I had ever seen and he seemed to reek of evil. “Roll on one,” he commanded with a smile as he locked eyes with me.
I heard a lever being pulled somewhere behind me and I heard the hum of a large generator as it came to life.

“Jessica Green, you have been judged by a jury of your peers and you have been found guilty of your crimes,” evil eyes said.

I closed my eyes and a vision flashed before me. I was driving at a high speed and was obviously impaired and I crashed into the back of a station wagon. I stood in the median without a scratch and looked as the Paramedics placed a mother and two small children on stretchers and zipped their body bags closed. Upon closer inspection I discovered it was the same mother and children that I had rescued from the apartment fire. The bizarre images of their damaged bodies flashed before my eyes as evil eyes continued to speak.

“Jessica Green, do you have any final words?” he asked.

“I, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” I stammered weakly.

I could hear hisses and boos coming from the dark theater and my mind imagined glowing eyed demons sitting back waiting to accompany me to the Devil’s Lair.

“By the power vested in me by the great state of Florida, I now sentence you to death. Electricity will now be run through your body until you die. May God bless your soul,” he said with an evil grin

Evil eyes stared at the clock and I could hear the seconds of my life ticking away. “Roll on two,” he commanded and the final sound I heard was the dropping of the lever that sent thousands of volts of electricity coursing through my body.

My scream echoed throughout the sleep lab as I tore the electrodes off my body and ran from the room. I was quickly caught and subdued by two nurses who managed to calm me down enough to recite the dream back to them detail by gory detail.

The sleep study was supposed to last another two hours but there was no way I was going to sleep again that night, so I checked out and headed for home.

It would be three to five days before I was scheduled to go back to the doctor to receive the results of the sleep study. I had a short business trip out of town that I hoped would help occupy my mind until the doctor could find out why I was having such a difficult time of sleeping.

Eight lives down and one to go.

Part Nine

So, with eight lives gone and one to go I packed my bags. Maybe a change of scenery would do me good I thought as I drove to the airport. I curb checked my luggage and made it through security just in time to board. Settling into my first class seat I reclined back and sipped a glass of wine while the other passengers boarded the jet.

Just after take- off, I reclined my seat and felt my eyes growing heavy. I raised the seat up, fearful of sleeping and tried to keep my weary eyes open. I tried working a puzzle, which only made my eyes heavy and I was soon nodding off.

I heard a loud pop and felt a sharp pain in my head. I opened my eyes and looked down on my body lying on a cold morgue table. The Medical Examiner walked around the table, staring at my naked body and clicked on a tape recorder. “Post mortem examination of the body begun at 2:30pm,” she announced. “Upon initial visual exam there are no signs of external trauma which could be related to her death. “

The woman ran her fingers through my dark curls. “Such a waste,” she said. Her right thumb reached down and lifted the lid of my left eye and then my right. “Signs of petechial hemorrhages are evident in both eyes suggesting death by asphyxiation, but there are no visual marks indicating strangulation or foul play. “ She picked up a file and read, “toxicology screens negative for drugs other than a prescription sleeper.”

She turned away from the table and picked up a cranial saw and flipped the switch to turn the saw on. I cringed and was thankful that I could not feel the bite of the saw as it bit into my skull and she worked the blade around my head and then turned the blade off. She returned it to the equipment table and carefully lifted the skull cap from my head. “Jesus Christ,” she said out loud.

“It’s no wonder this poor soul needed a sleeper,” the doctor said. “Visual examination of the cranial cavity reveals massive cranial disruption.” The doctor took a deep breath and continued her examination. “There is evidence of a ruptured tumor, which probably occurred during the rapid change of cabin pressure during take-off.” She picked up a pair of surgical tweezers and gently removed the largest remnant of the tumor and measured and weighed it. “The location of the tumor would have caused disturbed sleep patterns and probable nightmares,” she said. “Proper treatment and surgery would have prevented much misery for this young woman,” the doctor said into the recorder. “Cause of death, the rupture of a massive cranial tumor.”

I sat in stunned silence as I listened to the results of my own autopsy and the doctor declaring that competent intervention could have prevented my death. I was relieved to hear that I was not insane and I turned toward the light that was calling to me.
Nine lives gone and none left.

The End
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Alli


Last edited by Allison on Wed May 23, 2007 3:23 pm; edited 1 time in total

Post Tue May 22, 2007 2:24 am 
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ghost



Joined: 06 Nov 2005
Posts: 2828
Location: MIA


wow.

what a story!!!

great stuff, allilove.

much love
a sleepy ghost
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MIA

Post Tue May 22, 2007 4:27 am 
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Tracey



Joined: 30 Dec 2005
Posts: 1489
Location: Ayr, Scotland


wow! that was a GREAT story alli!

just hope it doesn't happen to you IRL
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I know I'm in my own little world, but it's ok. They know me here.

sometimes i wonder... ' why is that frisbee getting bigger'... and then it hits me

Post Tue May 22, 2007 9:30 am 
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Allison



Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 4216
Location: Florida


Thanks Ghosty...glad you enjoyed!

Alli
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Alli

Post Tue May 22, 2007 10:24 am 
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Allison



Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 4216
Location: Florida


Me too Trace. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Thanks for the post sweety. Hope you are doing well.

Alli
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Alli

Post Tue May 22, 2007 10:25 am 
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