Adventures of Filomena
• Filomena in a page
• Sometimes A Foreign Place
Filomena's Trip
The last of the boxes had been packed into the rental car. Lisa the cat sat on a plush, folded comforter that laid atop the beige boxes that constituted much of the car. Queen of the car, Lady of the boxes. She purred and raised her tail at the sight of Filomena walking out of the familiar apartment building where they had both lived the past few years. It was soon only to be a memory. As Filomena neared the open back door of the vehicle, the cat stared up at her, letting out a faint meow.
“Let’s get going then,” said Lisa the cat.
Filomena took a worried look behind her, back to the home she was leaving. She had been living her hermetic lifestyle here, with her satellite television and her job licking envelopes, for seven years. She was apprehensive about moving away, dealing with others was not an ability she fared well at. Her heart would begin beating intensely and her mind would refuse to function in any mode but frantic when in most social situations. Just the thought of all she would have to do before she rested peacefully, alone again in front of her TV, caused her body a nervous reaction. Her social ineptness stemmed from a fear in dealing with others, a fear that seemed to always exist in her. Yet this fear was not really a fear until a few weeks ago. It was a mere apprehension that had become twisted and intensified since she began licking envelopes and had become something more now.
She did not know it, but the particular envelopes Filomena used were produced in a factory, no longer operating, in some unstable South American nation. It seems the workers were sick of the foreign owners abuses and plotted to taint the final batches of glue before the factory closed its doors. Their industrious scheme worked well, no one had become the wiser. Filomena had always purchased her envelopes in bulk, licking them eight to ten hours a day, every day, she would go through plenty of them. The last shipment she received contained 100% tainted envelopes, courtesy of the workers strife.
The envelope glue was changing her brain chemistry, altering the way she thought and affecting her behavior. The effects had been subtle at first, but they had become more noticeable as of recent, that is, if anyone existed who would notice. But there was no such person. No such person except for Lisa the cat that is, and she wasn‘t mentioning it.
Turning back to the car, red faced now, taking deep breaths and regaining her composure, Filomena spied the satellite dish popping out of one of the boxes. Too large to fit without sticking out a bit, the awkward shaped bowl took up a lot of space, barely leaving room for her television set and a few other necessities. The rest of her things had been picked up earlier that morning by the movers. Strange, fat men who did not look in the least bit trustworthy. Filomena was worried about them, what they could do to her chairs, her cutlery, her underwear! Her face turned red, displeased with the thoughts roaming her brain. She hurried to the drivers door and jumped behind the steering wheel letting out a heavy breath. Having not driven for years, he checked the controls over to make sure she knew where everything was.
With a turn of the key, the car started up. Filomena let out a thin smile and pushed her sunglasses from resting down on her nose back up to a more secure position. She looked back at Lisa, to see if she was ready to go. The cat sat there smiling.
“Well, lets go already,” Lisa demanded harshly.
The cat was often a happy cat, looking and acting as a happy cat would. Yet her looks would often betray her true nature, Lisa could be a tyrant. When she was in a good mood she was great, but when she was in a bad mood, she was truly a monster. Filomena would do all she could, whenever she could, to keep Lisa in a good mood, sometimes going to great lengths to accomplish this. Lisa was the reason they were moving.
Filomena wanted to comment at the cat’s remark, but decided against it rather than risk annoying her. Instead she shook her head, closing her eyes hard behind the dark lenses where the cat couldn‘t see them. She pulled out onto the street, the long drive heavy on her mind. A drive across three states to Boston. She had never been to Boston, and wasn‘t sure she really wanted to move there, but Lisa was adamant about it.
Neither of them saw the Laundro-Marto laundry truck as it t-boned the rented red Honda. If she had been in the habit, she may have put her seatbelt on. Filomena lost consciousness upon impact, hearing only the squealing of brakes and a brief instant of the loud, metallic crunching intermingled with the breaking of glass.
“It was a terrible accident I guess. I overheard the EMTs talking about it just the other day. They said she pulled right out in front of one of those laundry delivery trucks,” then slapping his hands together for emphasis, the bearded janitor continued, “SMACK!”
Filomena could hear someone talking. She strained to open her eyes, to no avail.
She heard a second voice, less excited than the first. She tried to move her right arm, but could not and continued to fight for relief from the blackness overwhelming her head. With the strain, she emitted a slight burp-like sound from the back of her throat. With that came the fuzziest of lights, faint and centered.
“Wow, that’s the one, huh? Yea I heard about her my first day,” his overweight co-worker replied.
She heard some shuffling, and felt a pressure on her forearm. Shadowy images crossed the faint bit of illumination she held onto.
“Get a doctor, or a nurse. I think she’s awake“.
The fat janitor, jogged out of the room and down the hospital corridor heading in the direction of the nurses station. Or was the nurses station the other way, he thought to himself, realizing suddenly he had to turn around and go the other direction. Pivoting as sharply as a man his size could, he heard the other man yell out.
“Wrong way Maurice! Nurses Station is the other way!”.
Filomena could see more light now. She could almost make out the shape of something in her vision.
She heard a mans voice saying, “It’s going to be alright. You’re going to be just fine, hold on just a second.”
The bearded janitor didn’t really know what to say, he never did when placed in these weird hospital situations. He didn’t mind the people and liked his work, but when it came with pain and suffering, he preferred to keep a comfortable distance. Sure he could be a Custodial Engineer anywhere, but the hospital paid particularly well. This was a part of the job, like cleaning up vomit or blood. He impatiently wondered what was taking so long. The nurses station wasn’t that far away.
A moment later a nurse walked into the room with a panting, sweating fat janitor in tow.
She went straight to Filomena, calling out gently, “Ms. Chapin?”
Filomena slowly twisted her head to the side, in the direction of the female voice. She could make out a blurred figure in a white wardrobe. The nurse looked over the various monitoring devices as she talked soothingly to the now awakened woman in the bed, careful to avoid this tube and that wire.
Filomena looked up at the nurse and muttered something barely audible.
“What was that?” the nurse asked of her patient, continuing about her diagnostics.
Filomena repeated what she had said the first time, “Where is Lisa? Where is my cat?”
The nurse smiled and nodded saying, “Everything’s gonna be just fine.”
She could not understand what the woman lying there had said.
Two doctors had entered the room, giving the janitors their cue to leave. The younger of the two doctors, a blond haired, tan fellow who looked like he could have walked off of a soap opera, gave the custodians an unimpressed look as they exited past him. Filomena could see more clearly now, her eyes were coming into focus.
“Where’s my cat, Lisa?” she asked again, this time with enough strength to convey her message.
The older, gentler looking doctor answered, “Oh, your cat? It’s safe, I assure you Ms. Chapin, err,” he held up his clipboard to read, “Filomena, mmm, that’s an interesting name. Your cat is being looked after, It’s fine.”
She could see him smiling down at her aware enough now to notice a grin full of dull, yellow teeth and when he spoke his breath was bitter with stale cigarette smoke mixed with strong coffee--that combination reminded Filomena of her mother. She cringed at the smell and at the memories it had triggered. Her impression of this doctor was now as tainted as his foul exhales.
Where is my cat, she thought. Where is she? My cute, furry, cuddly little Lisa, where is she? Where is her funny nose and her happy tail? Where is her soft purring and her reassuring words? Where is her wisdom and her advice?
The doctors stood there looking down at her, discussing her good fortune with one another as she drifted back into the dark unconscious.
A soft, warm itchiness on the cheek brought Filomena out of her slumber. She opened her eyes to see Lisa rubbing her little face on the side of hers, all the while making mellow, little purrs.
“So your awake?” Lisa whispered into her ear.
Filomena nodded. She remembered waking up a short time ago with people in the room. Now the room was empty. She looked around, her neck was uncomfortably stiff. The first thing to come into her sight was her left arm encased within a cast at her side. She inventoried the rest of her person, to see what else was wrong with her. It appeared that her right leg was in a cast covering its entire length, with her hand, she felt it come all the way up to her hip. She was hooked up to a couple of medical devices she recognized from the medical dramas on prime-time, though she didn’t know their proper names or what their purposes were.
“You’re a mess,” Lisa’s voice held disappointment, “guess there’ll be no Boston for us.”
“I’m sorry Lisa, I didn’t intend for us to get into an accident.” Filomena’s voice strained from dryness and disuse.
“Of course you didn’t. You’re just an inexperienced driver. It isn’t your fault though, you don’t know any better.”
The cat continued to rub on her, not making eye contact. Filomena picked her up and pulled the soft warmness close to her chest.
“I missed you so much Lisa, I was worried you were hurt.”
“No, I’m fine. I don’t like that doctor of yours though, the one with the bad breath.”
The door opened at that precise moment. As if invoked, the doctor came walking in, a wide smile proudly showing off a row of beige nuggets. Filomena could smell the mans breath from across the room, as if it had glided in the door behind him, not wanting to be left alone outside. Its presence caused her to scrunch up her nose in disapproval.
“Don’t like him one bit,” Lisa uttered in a low, contemptuous manner, meant only for Filomena.
“Wow! You look a lot better! And you’ve got your cat too, great! I asked the nurse to bring her in for you,” Doctor Brown-Teeth beamed bending over slightly to pet the cat, “Nice kittie, awww, you sure are a pretty pussy cat.”
The doctor did his examination, explaining along the way everything he felt Filomena should know about her condition. He seemed to go on and on, but she heard little of what was said, all she noticed of him was the smell of his putrid breath.
The doctor seemed to be in an impossibly chipper mood. The smile rarely wavered from his face except when relaying bad information like, “your not going to be able to walk for a while, your leg and hip were both broken,” but the smile would return as he continued on, “but we have a real nice wheelchair for you!”
Yes, Filomena thought to herself, this man I do not like.
After he had left the room, Lisa voiced a more disapproving attitude, “This man is a bastard-son-of-a-bitch.”
The cat paced the bed, thinking hard. Lisa always paced when she was thinking, Lisa thought a lot. She abruptly stopped as if she had had a revelation.
Peering up at Filomena with a look as serious as had ever been on that cat‘s face, she revealed what must be done, “That doctor has to die. You have to kill him, it’s the only way.”
Filomena was shocked and disturbed at this. Lisa may have had her erratic moments, but never had she suggested such things as this before. She wasn’t sure what to think, had Lisa lost her mind? Did the accident cause her cat brain damage? Maybe Lisa needed an examination, or some X-rays.
“Why would you say such a thing? Why would you want to kill that man, that doctor? He didn’t hurt you Lisa, he helps people, he’s a doctor,” Filomena pleaded.
The cat now sat there licking its paw, not saying a word, intent on its grooming. After a few moments she stopped and looked up from her tongue bath.
“But he did hurt me. If you look beneath the fur you will see wounds The wounds Doctor Bad-breath inflicted upon me. He has to die Filomena. Look down to my skin,” Lisa asked of Filomena, “then you will see.”
Filomena sat up in her bed so she could get in a more comfortable position. Her body was stiff and sore, a sharp pain rose from her hip, making her wince. She took a deep breath and parted the cats calico fur down to its skin. There she found evidence of injury, abrasions peppered the cat’s skinny little body. Lisa had been hurt, she was not lying, but couldn’t the injuries be from the accident? Filomena’s own body held evidence of the wreck, small cuts and bruises could be seen and felt throughout her body.
“Are you sure you didn’t get those from the accident?”
“No, no, no! Some I did get from the accident, yes, but most he inflicted upon me. He kept me in a box in his car so he could abuse me whenever he liked. Cutting and poking me, the horrible things he did! You have to do something Filomena! That man is cruel. You must believe me, why would you not? Have I ever lied to you before?”
“Of course not Lisa, you wouldn’t lie to me, never.”
“Of course I’ve never lied to you! We are alone together Filomena. Without you I am nothing, we are nothing without each other. I would never hurt you.”
Statements like that reminded Filomena how convincing Lisa could be.
“Of course not Lisa, I wouldn’t hurt you, not ever,” Filomena insisted.
“Well then, why do you not believe what I tell you now? If ever there was anything I would want you to know and believe, it would be the terrible things that so called doctor did to me, look at me Filomena!”
Lisa was visibly upset now.
“That doctor must be a bad man then. He must dislike animals a lot.”
“Yes, he is terrible, and he may even try to do things to you. Look at his stained teeth and smell his foul breath, he wreaks of evil,” and with that, the cat laid down its head, shut it’s eyes and proceeded to sleep.
Filomena was left in silence. Lying back down all the way in her bed, she thought about the doctor and about Lisa’s injuries. Her own body had ached from the accident, yet she felt little pain now, focused upon her emotions. She felt no fear of this man, she felt anger. Her heart was in pain from the thought of her poor Lisa being tortured at the hands of that foul-breathed doctor, what was his name again? He had told her before, but she wasn’t paying attention. Doctor Johnson, no Johanason, that was the name, Johanason, The Terrible Doctor Johanason, M.D., torturer of cats and other of God’s helpless, fury creatures. This man was a truly evil individual, she knew he must be stopped. For hours she flitted between sadness for her cat and hatred for the doctor, finally falling into an uneasy sleep.
“Good morning! How is the patient doing today?” asked the nurse.
“I’m feeling better, now that I’m awake from the coma, I guess.” Filomena replied.
The nurse laughed at that, Filomena wasn’t sure why.
“The doctor says your doing great, and you are, you look a lot better than yesterday. You’ll be out of here in no time, a week max.”
Filomena cringed at the thought of being here for a week. Sure she had the television, she could watch her shows without missing an episode. It was on now, but she didn‘t take notice of it, she had more important things to think about.. Normally the TV held her undivided attention, but not today, today her mind wandered elsewhere. She was picturing the cruel things that doctor had done to her cat.
As if reading her mind, Lisa nonchalantly said, “There aren’t a lot of ways to do it stuck here in the hospital Filomena, and many of those ways are unavailable to you in your present state. There are only a few options for us. You need to get a hold of a syringe.”
Filomena thought about it for a moment, not sure of what she would do with a syringe if she had one. She had never devised the demise of someone before and had no experience in the art of assassination via syringe or any other method. She imagined Dr. Johanason, a needle jammed deep into one of his green eyeballs, writhing about the hospital floor, blood spurting all over the previously white walls. The scene in her head was unsettling, making her stomach churn. Becoming light headed she closed her eyes, trying to rid her head of the gory agonies of the doctor. Instead the images became more potent, she could now hear him screaming.
“I can’t do it, I can’t! I won’t be able to do it Lisa, I swear. I can’t kill anyone,” she blurted out, twisting up the bed sheets around her body as she writhed in the discomfort of those dark hallucinations.
“This man is evil, he deserves all those terrible things you imagine. Let him die a painful death,” Lisa continued matter-of-factly, “You’re going to need something to put into the syringe also, of course. Something to help him on his way off.”
Help him on his way off? Was she seeing him off on a vacation to some island paradise? Lisa made it sound so easy, as if they would be doing the man a favor.
“You would be doing him a favor Filomena. He needs to be released from his own painful life. Inflicting such things upon others does not come without a price, he needs release.”
The visions dissipated and Filomena opened her eyes, “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
“No, you won’t. You could not truly understand, because you are a good person. You must take my word on this as you know my advice is sound. Trust me,” the cat looked up at Filomena and meowed, “That is why this is hard for you to do, but it is also why you must do it. His evil fate is in your good hands. It is a righteous deed.”
Lisa was sounding like one of those televangelists that Filomena would occasionally send money to. Usually it was just a small check, nothing over twenty five dollars. She wasn’t a religious person, but they needed the money more than she did, for feeding orphans and building homes for the destitute and so on. She felt she was a good person, she tried to be. Many times people have to do something necessary that they don’t want to do, like walking six blocks to get to the grocery store, or moving away to a strange, new place, or killing your doctor.
“Maybe that soap in the bathroom will work,” Lisa suggested.
“For what?” questioned Filomena.
“For the syringe. The soap should kill a man if it were injected into his body, I would think.”
Filomena reminded the cat, “But first we need a syringe.”
Lisa nodded in agreement, a smile showed her pointed little teeth.
The nurse walked into the room, carrying a tray of bland hospital food in with her. Filomena did not care if the hospital food was bland or not, because all food had become bland to her long ago. She had lost her sense of taste after licking so many envelopes. The more recent batch of tainted envelopes may have caused insanity, but the glue typical of envelopes, though generally harmless, did have its own side effect. With as many envelopes as she had licked, day and night, every day and every night, the quantity of glue that Filomena ingested measured out to an alarming amount. She would not complain though, she may have lost her pleasure of food, she had also lost 120 lbs.
“Here is your dinner and some cat food for your little friend,” the nurse brought the tray to the bed and placed it in front of Filomena, “The doctor should be in to see you before he goes home for the night,”
Looking up at the clock the nurse continued, “Probably be in here in about, twenty, twenty five minutes.”
“I look forward to his visit. Lisa can’t wait to see him too.“
Filomena had found an used syringe earlier inside of the biohazard waste disposal container in her room. Filled with peach scented liquid hand soap, it was now hidden beneath her pillow. She had retrieved and prepared it in a painfully awkward journey around her room. Slowly and methodically making her way from bed, to the red plastic medical refuse container hanging on the wall, to the liquid soap container on the sink, and then back to her bed. The task had been exhausting and left her drenched in sweat and pain.
“Lisa? I don’t recall seeing any visitors,” the nurse said puzzled.
Then, realizing her mistake, she corrected herself, “Oh, you mean your cat.”
“Yes, my cat,” Filomena snapped.
The nurse smiled and turned, leaving the room. She shut the door behind her.
“That nurse is annoying,” stated Lisa.
“Yes she is. But not evil.”
“No, certainly not evil.”
Lisa rolled her eyes.
The two had finished eating their dinners and now Filomena sat up watching a sitcom on television with Lisa sleeping curled up on her stomach, when the door opened. A head popped in from the edge of the door and the smiling Doctor Johanason peeked into the room.
“How’s my patient and her cat?” he asked, still standing behind the partly opened door .
“Oh, I’m fine doctor. How are you?”
He now opened the door and strode over to her bedside and began petting Lisa.
“Oh, fine, fine, fine. Lets see here.”
The doctor focused on his clipboard now and said something to Filomena. She did not hear what he said to her, her mind was racing, she just nodded in agreement and thought about the syringe beneath her pillow. She began to get hot and her forehead began to bead with perspiration. Lisa had decided that Filomena would stab the doctor in the neck, releasing the anti-bacterial soap into him with a quick press of the syringe’s plunger. Now she was sure she couldn’t do it, she couldn‘t kill this man, evil or not, she couldn‘t kill anyone under any circumstances.
The doctor looked down at her, speaking, but she heard no words. He was no longer smiling like he always seemed to be.
“Are you all right? I asked how your hip was. Are you feeling ok?”
Some of his words broke through the white noise that pervaded her ears.
“Huh? Oh, uh, I don’t know.”
The doctor looked at her quizzically, “Maybe I should get you something, you look distressed. Your hip is going to be fine Ms. Chapin, it’ll just take some time to heal. We can get you something for the pain.”
“The pain, yes, something for the pain.“
Her mind was swimming, she felt as if someone else were speaking in her voice. The room was beginning to get wavy, everything was turning a shade of blue.
“Ok then,” the doctor turned and left the room.
She could hear him yell, “Nurse,” down the corridor.
“You sure messed that up,” Lisa chimed.
“I’m sorry, I just can’t do it.“
Tears began streaming down Filomena’s face.
The nurse walked in the room carrying her own syringe and proceeded to poke it into a tube conveniently sticking out of the top of Filomena’s hand. Filomena felt a rush of warmth in her body, slowly rising from her hand, up her arm and around her heart. How quickly things seemed better, the tears stopped their flow and a blank look now controlled her face.
“See, you’ll be fine, everything’s fine,” the nurse assured.
Filomena believed those words, everything was going to be fine now, yes, everything was going to be just dandy, oh yea.
Filomena woke up to Lisa licking her face, the cat’s scratchy tongue focused on her cheek. Still under the effects of the drugs the nurse had administered, her head felt drowsy and strange, it took her a moment to open her eyes,
“Good morning bright eyes,” greeted Lisa.
“You’re mad at me,” slurred Filomena.
“No, no. I’m not mad, upset a bit, but not mad. We’ll just get him next time he comes in, I think you’ll do fine next time,” Lisa assured.
That sounded fine, she’d do it next time, why not. She had the syringe right there, she might as well do it next time, everything was fine. The TV wasn’t on, but it seemed like a pretty good show. Lisa seemed to talk on and on, but Filomena really couldn’t make out what she was saying, it sounded more like purring with an occasional meow. Filomena lay there watching TV for a while before anyone came into the room.
The nurse walked into the room and headed for the windows, drawing back the curtains, allowing the sunlight to shine in, “First sunny day we’ve had all week! We gave you something to make you feel better. Its for the pain. You seemed in pretty bad shape yesterday.
Filomena lay there, her eyes following the nurse around the room as she checked her charts, rearranged the pillows and tucked in the sheets. She did not have the least bit of desire to utter a single word, content instead on passively listening and watching.
“The doctor wants to release you in two days, but he wants to keep you one more night to make sure your fine and don’t have a reaction to the med’s. He‘ll send home something with you for the pain. He should be in later today to see how your doing. He’ll be glad to see you’re fine.”
Yes, I am fine, Filomena thought, and I have a fine syringe beneath my pillow too, waiting for the doctors fine neck. Filomena smiled a dopey smile. The nurse smiled back and then left the room. Filomena reached under her pillow to get the syringe, but she couldn’t seem to locate it. She was not so concerned at this, her emotions were unable to proceed in that direction under the influence of the narcotics. It must have been found. Though the nurse made no mention of anyone finding it, it was no longer there.
If she were to assassinate the doctor today, she’d need a fresh old needle. Everything would be fine once she had what she needed. Filomena got up from her bed and began her long, clumsy trek about the room again, rearming herself with the proper equipment, this time sans pain. Everything will be just fine.
There was a subtle knock on the open door. Filomena adjusted her look from the birds flying and chirping in the bright sunlight outside the window, she had been staring out there for hours now.
“Am I interrupting anything?” a buttery smooth voice asked.
It was the younger, good looking doctor that had been there when she first awoke from her coma. Her fuzzy mind curious where doctor stink-mouth was. How was she to kill him if he wasn’t here?
“No, I’ve seen this show before,” she slowly replied.
The doctor chuckled, then said, “Doctor Johanason is out of town, he won’t be back until Tuesday. He’ll see you in the morning before we release you.”
“Oh, ok then,” Filomena muttered
“He wanted me to make sure you and your cat were doing alright.”
“Oh, were fine.”
She was fine, the doctor wasn’t around, no worry. She’d just kill him Tuesday morning, before they release her. Everything would work out.
The sporty doctor didn’t stay in the room long, he quickly did his job and left the room. Lisa the cat was asleep, all warm and soft snuggled up next to her, . Reaching under her pillow to retrieve the syringe, she clutched it tight in both her hands, hidden from sight. Filomena loved Lisa, she’d do anything for her and the day after tomorrow she’d finally kill her doctor at her request, in the name of good. She returned her stare back out the window, out over the city, knowing what would happen next. She had seen this show before, like most sitcoms, everything is resolved in a half an hour, and everything always turns out fine.
When the fateful Tuesday morning came around, Filomena felt prepared. She had kept the syringe hidden much better since losing the first one. She kept it from sight beneath her hospital issued gown, never taking it out except to practice the form of her death-lunge late at night. She was sure that she could kill him now thanks to the numbing effects of the pain drugs, they helped not only to deaden her body, but also her mind.
Lisa hadn’t talked to her the past couple of days, Filomena thought it must have been because she was upset. She knew her cat would feel better after Doctor Johanason had been murdered, and would break her vow of silence then. They had never gone so long without talking before, it was driving Filomena crazy. She risked a glimpse at the syringe, bringing it out from under her gown. After a quick peek, she gripped the syringe in her one good hand and put it at her side. She felt confident, now all she had to was wait.
There was a knock on her door, followed by a brief pause.
“Its Mary, your nurse, I’ve come to help you get ready to go.”
Filomena had hoped it was the doctor.
“Come in,” she replied bluntly.
The nurse helped Filomena change. It was tricky for a few moments, but she managed to keep the syringe out of the nurse’s sight. Now she sat, waiting in her new wheelchair, her broken leg propped up out in front of her.
“Doctor Johanason will be coming by to see you before you go,” the nurse looked up at the clock, “He should be by any minute, the transport will be taking you home in a half hour.”
Filomena hadn’t thought about where home would be now. She’d have to go back to her old apartment for the time being. She hadn’t sold it yet, and she wouldn’t be going anywhere for a few weeks, not confined to her wheelchair. The move would have to wait.
The nurse perked up her head like a rabbit searching out possible predators out in the hidden grass, “I think I hear Doctor Johanason. I’ll go and tell him to come in.”
Filomena took a few deep breaths and began preparing for destiny.
Feet could be heard nearing the room. The door opened and in walked Doctor Johanason, with a smile on his face larger than the one he usually wore. Yet, there was something different, something very different, about the good doctor. Filomena sat up in shock, she could not believe what she saw. The doctor now proudly carried a mouth full of the most stunningly white teeth she had ever seen, and his breath--it smelled of a pleasant sweetness. Filomena was slack-jawed, the doctor began to laugh at the sight of her reaction.
“Yes, that isn’t the first response I’ve gotten like that today. They look great don’t they? It’s a new procedure a colleague of mine developed. He’s going to be a very wealthy man, that I can say for sure.”
Filomena had forgotten all about the murder plot and about the needle that rested in her lap. She looked down to Lisa, who was on the bed next to her.
The cat crooked its head to look up at her and spoke approvingly, “Wow, nice teeth.”
She had to agree, there was no disputing it, those were nice teeth. Maybe the nicest of all teeth.
Drearmy
These disturbing dreams,
that seem to leech from my soul,
thriving in the darkness of the night
have conjured some sort of power
through their rareness in recent months,
what once was familiar furniture of my mind.
An abundance of good dreams before,
two or three remembered at the wake of each new dawn,
benevolent and pleasant,
usually of a wild, fantastical nature,
in that place to live out whatever wishes cannot be,
carrying only a minor potency with them
beyond their intrinsically joyful form.
Now the frequency of the entertaining has waned
and these new, rare visions of the unconscious
assault me with disturbing messages,
leaving me to wake far too early in the morning
left bewildered in a depressed and panicked state,
not so much fear,
but of a nature more terrifying.
A taint of their remembrance,
though vague,
seems to follow me for much of the day,
in a solemn and quiet mood that cannot be helped or shaken
I stumble like an ill fated zombie
feigning a desirable amnesia,
Waiting,
Hoping to forget.
Thankfully those dreadful things
are soon consciously forgotten
only to be reminded again
in another uncommon, ethereal night
and to forever reside sufficiently hidden away
yet always lurking
in the shadows of my subconscious
