Nightmare You Have Had

During the month preceding the examination. I was haunted by the fear of falling ill while the examination was on. I was able to banish such fears and concentrate on my studies, but this fear crept into my subconscious mind and it played havoc on me. I now have the consolation that it was a dream and that the dream has not come true.

On the evening of October 20th, my birthday, a few friends of mine and I spent some time eating and exchanging banter. When they left, the thought of having squandered precious time nagged me. I attempted to study, but the irremediable habit of procrastination gets the better of me. I literally idled away my time and when dusk fell I cheated myself with the thought that I would wake up early in the morning and make up for a lost time. While all except my father were agog sitting before television and forecasting the results of a football program to be telecast live, I went upstairs to sleep. While in bed, sleep seemed to elude me and the bug of falling ill during the examination began to harass me. I counted from fifty to ten backward and I was soon asleep.

If Alice’s experiences in the Wonderland of her dream were bizarre; mine was shocking. To my subconscious mind, the bogey of illness during the examination was true.

I felt a sudden irritation in both my poor eyes and what started as an irritation became a pain. I called my mother (and I am glad I really did not disturb their rendezvous in the lounge) who rushed to me. She called for my father, but he was away at a party. It was nine at night. My mother consoled me, but she could do nothing to ease my pain. I felt that I would not be able to sit for the major examination in the English Language (and that both papers, and Mathematics in the afternoon!). I now became mentally agitated, and whether the pain or the fear made me suffer more I cannot tell now.

My father returned and he was in high spirits. He little realized that there was one of those problems awaiting him. He came to me. I was standing facing the wall. He seemed to have experienced my agony, and, without a word, he carried me downstairs, put me in his car, and sped to a private hospital. On the way, he indirectly asked me to forget about the examination the next day. I explained to him that I felt as though there were needles and pins stuck in my eyes. On arrival at the hospital, I was promptly wheeled into the Emergency Room. The doctor thought he was right with his diagnosis – nervousness due to examination. He pronounced that for me the examination had ended and that he would issue a certificate the next day to be presented to the authorities.

My father was undaunted by this pronouncement. In a few minutes, we reached another doctor. He sounded young and pleasant. My father’s explanation was quick. The doctor needed no explanation. He had diagnosed at sight, and correctly! Before he applied his scientific formula to my eyes he said that I would open my eyes in two minutes. But I could do so in less than a minute! Tears welled in my poor injured eyes and I strained my eyes to see this kind of specialist and my father. There was none. All I saw was the clock on the wall opposite me ticking away. The din in the lounge had subsided. I was overcome with happiness. I am happy that it was all a dream – or was it a nightmare?