Strange Sensations

Lisa Popa, a thirty-something Romanian woman, had been in bed for approximately two hours.

 Lisa Popa, a thirty-something Romanian woman, had been in bed for approximately two hours. The pain from her legs was now more excruciating from the concussion caused by the passenger airbag in last Friday’s accident. It left bruised tissues on various parts of her body especially the area close to her oddly-placed tattoo below her bikini top.

The dark bedroom was still quiet except for the occasional “boom-boom” vibration coming from traffic running over a poorly-placed manhole cover on the side street below. A bright harvest moonbeam was the only illumination. It cast shadows of grotesque figures through the thick-paned windows adorning the recently remodeled 1906 upstairs apartment.

Working for an established funeral home in a small town in South Carolina, Lisa’s boyfriend, Craig Shore, had been called to go on a death call earlier unbeknownst to her. He was a non-licensed employee who caught the phone at night as part of his agreed-on work package. Not married, they had lived together for only a month. He had met Lisa at a contemporary Christian worship service where she was trying to start a new life in America from some of her poor decisions of the past. Their large King-sized bed allowed much movement without them even touching which suited both due to his snoring and her needed extra pillows for sciatica pain.

She had taken only two 150 mg Demerol caplets, rarely prescribed nowadays because of its potential new dangers. To her, it seemed the right dosage to get the pain under control; however, medically it’s too intense for her needs. Since she had already taken two acid reflux tablets, two 325 mg of aspirin, and three 5 mg capsules of Melatonin, unexpected interactions were inevitable.

Lisa’s brow is sweating. Her entire face appears with beaded moisture from her skin unable to contain the circulation from her inner body systems. Her lips are now moving like she is talking in her sleep. Her eyelids partially open, reveal her in REM stage. Slight tear trails are making their way down the inner acanthi of her eyes

Her breathing becomes erratic and labored. Her pajama-covered breasts are rising and falling as if a metronome kept tempo at 80 beats. Her breaths get tighter as her whole body begins quivering in the sheets.
A backfire from a car exhaust goes off from the street below loud enough to wake the dead – “POW!” Lisa awakens screaming, “I will not be your slave.” Suddenly, awakened, she quickly moves to turn on the side table light. She stands and starts shaking herself fully awake. She moves about the room trying to inhale more breath and then moves back to sit on the bedside. Slowly, she gains more control over her breathing which slows down in stages. Soon, the breaths are longer and softer more in balance with normal respiration.

She looks about the room now noticing the eerie landscape of new shadows cast by the side table light. Everything is normal. She gets up and walks to the adjacent bathroom where she runs some cold water in the sink occasionally splashing her face. Lisa then decides to take a pee on the commode. She sits there relieving herself from last night’s multiple G2 drinks.

At the end of urination, all appears quiet except for the presence of a mysterious hissing sound. It is faint at first until temporarily drowned out by the flush of the commode.

As she reenters the bedroom, the hissing sound becomes more noticeable. She looks about the room for the source of the disturbance. It appears to be everywhere but eventually seems to be focused on her bed.

Full Story To Be In Future Book