"Pearlie, time for your sponge bath!" a voice I don't recognize sing-songs through the darkness. I try to open my eyes, but they seem to be glued shut. Oh God, I've gone blind. Panic spreads through my frail body and my breathing quickens to the point where I’m gasping for air.
"It's alright, Mrs. Saunders, your sedative is just wearing off," the unfamiliar voice assures me. "You'll be able to function in no time at all!" This doesn't calm me down, it agitates me, but at least I know where I am now. I'm lying in a hospital bed, post-operation. I'm finally able to wrench my eyes open and take a good look around the bland, beige room. Nothing catches my eye except the clock on the wall, which tells me it is 12:05am.
"Oh, Nurse?" I ask sweetly. "Would you mind turning on the television to the news channel? I always watch at midnight." The nurse walks over to the television set and powers it on. The first thing I see is flames. Flames are everywhere, licking the side of a smokey trailer. My favorite newscaster announces that a grease fire was started in a food trailer at the carnival. She also states that the cause of the fire is unknown. I'm lucky to have escaped that carnival with only a monkey bite and a couple of stitches, I think to myself in awe. I scan the footage attentively; my eyesight hasn't left me yet, unlike my youth. Two female employees huddle together, keeping as far away as possible from the fire. Just beyond them, two large, dark figures hurry away from the scene. They're carrying something that looks big enough to be a body...
I know something must be wrong.
"It's alright, Mrs. Saunders, your sedative is just wearing off," the unfamiliar voice assures me. "You'll be able to function in no time at all!" This doesn't calm me down, it agitates me, but at least I know where I am now. I'm lying in a hospital bed, post-operation. I'm finally able to wrench my eyes open and take a good look around the bland, beige room. Nothing catches my eye except the clock on the wall, which tells me it is 12:05am.
"Oh, Nurse?" I ask sweetly. "Would you mind turning on the television to the news channel? I always watch at midnight." The nurse walks over to the television set and powers it on. The first thing I see is flames. Flames are everywhere, licking the side of a smokey trailer. My favorite newscaster announces that a grease fire was started in a food trailer at the carnival. She also states that the cause of the fire is unknown. I'm lucky to have escaped that carnival with only a monkey bite and a couple of stitches, I think to myself in awe. I scan the footage attentively; my eyesight hasn't left me yet, unlike my youth. Two female employees huddle together, keeping as far away as possible from the fire. Just beyond them, two large, dark figures hurry away from the scene. They're carrying something that looks big enough to be a body...
I know something must be wrong.
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