I Will Never Take a Nap Again!

"Wake up. Let me help you get off the floor and onto the couch." I think that's what I heard a woman say. It didn't sound like my mom's voice. My head pounded, and I was too tired to care. I kept my eyes closed as a warm blanket covered me.

"Are you hungry?" The stranger asked.

"No, my head hurts too bad to eat," I muttered. I gradually opened my eyes and saw a woman I didn't know. I was lying on a plaid couch I had never seen, covered with a soft woolen blanket that wasn't mine. I thought I was dreaming, but my head hurt too severely for it to be a dream. I looked around the room and saw an office desk, chair, bookcases, paper, pencils, and markers on a table.

"Where am I?" I asked as I looked around the strange office. "Who are you?" I asked the woman.

"My name is Dr. Miller, Dr. Marion Miller. I am a scientist here at the center. This is my office."

"Your office? What center? Where am I?" A panic attack was about to take over my body. I had no idea where I was, and I just wanted to go home.

"The center is part of the Reginald Research Complex." The woman was being purposely vague. I had never heard of the Reginald Research Complex. I didn't know what the center meant, and I had lived here my entire life.

Dr. Miller appeared curious and even intrigued by my sudden appearance in her office. "Can you tell me about yourself, your name, your age, and where you live?"

"Of course, I can tell you about myself. I don't have amnesia, well, not completely." I replied, a bit snarky. My name is Emily Dawson. I'm seventeen years old, a senior in high school, and I live with my mother at 725 Parks Street."

"What city?" Dr. Miller asked.

"What kind of a question is that? I live in Lewiston. Isn't this center in Lewiston?" I retorted.

"Yes, we are in Lewiston," Dr. Miller smiled.

"I don't know how I got here. I want to go home. Can I call my mother? She's probably worried about me."

"Not yet, Emily, not yet. When I walked into my office this morning, you were asleep on the floor by my sofa. You were moaning, and I helped you get up and covered you with a blanket. I waited until you awoke. Why don't you tell me why you are here and how you got into my locked office?"

"I don't know how I got here. Heck, I don't even know where here is."

"Tell me about the last things you do remember. Can you do that?" the doctor asked.

"Of course, I can do that. It was Saturday night, and my friends and I went to the high school Sadie Hawkins dance. That is an annual school dance where the girls ask guys to be their date. Afterward, a group of us went to Joyce's house. Joyce is my best friend. We watched a rented movie, played board games, and ate pizza and popcorn. It was late when I got home, like 4:00 a.m. late. My mom was furious with me. Why did she have to get her panties in such a wad? Joyce lived just down the street. Mom knew I was going over there after the dance. She could have just called Joyce's mom if she didn't trust me.

"My mother woke me early Sunday morning to get dressed for Sunday School. I did not want to get up early to go to church. I had a headache and wanted to go back to sleep. My mother, still cross with me, ordered, ‘Get out of bed right now and get dressed.’ She was still upset that I had been out so late and did not care that I needed more sleep. She accused me of faking the headache.

“I screamed at her, and she slapped me. We had a doozy of an argument. Getting grounded was not what I wanted, so I went to church. She made me sit next to her so she could jab me in the ribs every time I nodded off. When we got home from church, my headache was worse. It was a weird headache, not the usual type. I told my mom I did not want any lunch, and I went to my bedroom and got back into bed for a nap."

"The next thing I knew, someone said, 'Wake up, let me help you get off the floor and onto the couch.' I suppose that was you, Dr. Miller. You sounded far away or at the end of a tunnel or something. I was still half asleep and thought I was dreaming. Next, you asked, 'Are you hungry?' To answer that question, No, I'm not hungry. My head hurts something awful. Then you started asking me who I was and how I got here. I don't know how I got here. I want to go home."

Dr. Miller rubbed her hands together and twiddled her thumbs. She was deep in thought. "Emily, do you feel well enough for a walk around the grounds to see if anything looks familiar?"

"If we go slowly, I can walk. I don't want my head to burst," I answered, sounding snarky again.

 "Let me get you a glass of water or juice before we leave so you don't get dehydrated, or your headache will worsen." Dr. Miller suggested.

"I know all about getting dehydrated. I run cross-country for our high school's track team. I usually come in first or second place and even have the trophies to prove it. I don't want to get dehydrated, so yes; I would like something to drink. Water would be nice." I gulped down the water like I had not had water for days. I didn't know I was so thirsty. Before going outside, I looked out the window near the couch. The mountains, I knew those mountains.

We walked through the automatic opening and closing glass doors. We stopped, and I stared at the three large, pointed mountains in the distance.

"I recognize the mountain peaks. I hike them every summer. I can see those mountains from my bedroom window and our front porch.

"Is that the Lewiston River I hear? It is behind us, back that way." I pointed toward the west. "I love the sound of rushing water. I can hear it from my backyard while I watch the millions of sparkling stars on a clear night. It is relaxing to hear the rumbling river while wondering if others have ever lived on any of the endless stars or planets. I heard the stars have already burned out by the time we see them. That doesn't make much sense to me, but much of science is incomprehensible. The river sounds louder than usual, and we haven't had much rain this season, so I don't know why it sounds so loud."

"That's a good question, Emily. I wonder that myself," Dr. Miller added.

I looked at all the buildings, roads, and parking garages. There were no trees or gardens anywhere that I could see. "You sure have a lot of parking garages. I have never seen these buildings before. The hospital is over there." I looked south towards the hospital that was five blocks away. "The hospital doesn't look the same. It's a lot bigger now."

I looked north to my left. "The furniture store and Scaggs grocery store are supposed to be over there. Something is wrong. They're not there anymore.

"Where is my neighborhood with all the quaint cottage-style houses? Our neighborhood is so charming and quiet. These buildings are ugly in comparison." I looked at Dr. Miller, "Are you a nightmare because I was rude to my mother?" My head started pounding again, and I asked her if we could go back inside.

"That's a good idea. You can lie on my sofa again while I talk to my colleagues."

We returned to Dr. Miller's office, and I asked for apple juice. Was my blood sugar low, and I was hallucinating? Or was this all a nightmare, and I'd wake up soon? If this were payback for being rude to my mother, I promised to apologize.

I rested on the sofa while Dr. Miller talked with whoever her colleagues were. I didn't know if they were all PhD-type doctors or medical-type doctors. When Dr. Miller returned, a man and a woman were with her. They also wanted to talk to me. Dr. Miller introduced them. "Emily, this is Dr. Jason Boardman and Dr. Alison Jones." 

Dr. Boardman unfolded an old map and spread it out on the table. He instructed me to look at the map and show them what I recognized. That seemed like a strange request, but heck, everything was strange that day. Dr. Jones gave me a pencil and told me to mark the places I knew on the map.

"Yes, I recognize this map. My house is right there on Parks Street." I put a big X where my house was. I circled the high school that was only a ten-minute walk from my house. I wrote an F where the furniture store was and an S where Scaggs grocery store was.

I showed them the field I crossed and the route I took when walking to the university to use their library. It was much easier to study at the college library than at home. The high school library was not open at night or on Saturdays. I didn't like the high school library anyway. The girls flirted with the boys and wouldn't shut up. I wrote College where the university was on the map.

I also labeled the church my mom and I attended. I wrinkled up my nose at the thought of going to Sunday School with my nasty headache and my mom jabbing me in the ribs to stay awake.

All three doctors looked at each other like they had discovered something out of this world.

Idiots, I thought. So, I can read a map, big deal. "Now that you know that I can read a map, will you call my mom to come and get me?"

Dr. Miller hesitantly asked me to look closely at the map. "Look in the upper right corner of the map and read the date it was published."

"It states it was published in 1969. That seems right. Since it is a one-year-old map, I expect it's accurate."

Dr. Miller asked, "Emily, do you know what month and year it is, right now?"

The questions were getting tiresome, and my headache was getting worse again. My irritation was obvious. "What a stupid question. Of course, I know what month and year it is. I have already told you I graduate in May 1971. Right now, it is November 1970, or is my headache confusing me?" I answered sarcastically.

The doctors got quiet, looked at each other, and whispered words I could not hear. Dr. Boardman nodded to Dr. Miller who looked at me and explained, "Emily, it is not 1970. We are in the year 2045, seventy-five years later.

"That makes no sense to me. You scientists are nut jobs. I want to go home," I complained on the verge of tears. "My schoolteachers have never talked about stuff like this."

"No, you would not have learned about it in high school in 1970. We are Quantum Physicists and have theories about phenomena, like time travel and multi-dimensions. Scientists no longer refer to our theories as fringe science and are eager to listen to us now. We take our work and research very seriously and would like to study your experience and learn more about how you arrived in my locked office. We think your headaches have something to do with your unusual abilities."

Dr. Miller continued, "The center I referred to is called The Center of Quantum Physics. We are part of the Reginald Research Complex. Our field of science has vastly gained in popularity and respect over the past seventy-five years. We've made a lot of discoveries since 1970."

"I don't feel well. My head is hurting like I've been hit with a baseball bat. Do you mind if I lie on your couch for a spell?" I asked Dr. Miller.

"I don't mind at all, Emily." We'll leave you alone so you can get some rest. Dr. Boardman, Dr. Jones, and I will be back to check on you later.

I was relieved when the scientists left the room. I needed a nap.

"Emily, Emily, wake up. You have been sleeping for hours. Are you hungry?" It was my mother's voice. I opened my eyes and found myself back in my bed.

"Oh, Mom, I am sorry I was rude to you earlier, and yes, I am starving."

My mother put her arms around me and kissed my forehead. "It's okay, sweetheart. I know you had a terrible headache. I should not have made you go to Sunday School. You needed a nap."

I will never take a nap again. I shivered at the thought of it.