A TRICKY WELCOME

                                                 'Everybody wake up after a good peaceful sleep, however, I am not a part of the lot. I do of course sleep peacefully, in fact, very peacefully, such that, I guess part of my brain started to love the dream world more, than the real world. Most people worry without a good night's sleep, whereas, I worry about not being able to wake up. 'Encephalitis Lethargica', also known as sleeping sickness, is a pretty rare disorder, and in a way, I am happy to be one of the rarest of course. This disease, is still a mystery for many doctors, of course, due to its rarity. I don’t understand why it is named as 'sleeping sickness', when the patient does not have any issues with sleeping, whereas, it must be named as 'waking sickness', or maybe even a better name like that would be good. So, to be precise, lets just say that, I'm a 'Sleeping Handsome', waiting to be woken up by a gorgeous princess.

                                           Haha, just kidding, well, the fact that I am 'Sleeping Handsome' is true though and in case you are wondering if this handsome sleeping prince has an identity in the real world, well, of course he does. My name is Peter Parker……ha…..kidding again, if I was spider man, I would not have been lying in a bed, for only God knows how many days, having a recap of my own life, over and over again in my own head, instead, I would have been swinging around the town, with web shooting out of my wrist. But I am Zack Rosario, a senior at St. Paul's, with really good looks,…….hey…hey….. it is not a self promotion……..unfortunately with a hard time waking up. You might be wondering how the hell I am so cheerful even in such a situation, well, it is simple, it is any way not possible for me to wake up by being all sullen, at least by staying cheerful, I can keep my mental self healthy. Besides, even while I am awake and wondering when I am going to go into the void again, I don’t usually express it, obviously it is of no use, it only worries my family and increases their feeling of being helpless. So, melancholy is not my cup of tea.

                                           According to researches, an average human spends around 26 years sleeping in his lifetime, but of course, I am breaking the record. The job of being the 'Sleeping Handsome' is of course not easy, it is a roller coaster. I guess it was around the age of six, that I had my first episode for around 3 days. My mom literally died when I did not wake up after going to sleep. And I do remember the scenario just clear right before my first episode. My head felt like it was going to explode, and I was a freaking hot iron rod. My temperature was so up, that I was rushed to a hospital and the doctor treated me thinking it was just a normal fever. But of course it was not. The sleep, it was normal, I had dreams, for sometime, then somehow, the sleep and the dreams became lucid. Lucid dreams and a six year old is not a good combo……trust me. The feeling of being somewhere and yet was not able to come out, was worse than a nightmare for the six year old me.

                                           Meanwhile, I was captured in my own sleep, the doctor who misunderstood my condition to be fever, understood it later on that I am a rare case. Thankfully he did not ask my mom to let him do a case study on me, of course I don’t want to be a guinea pig at any cost. After that, my mom was always on the watch out for my episodes. Thankfully, I doze off only when I sleep voluntarily and not while I am in the middle of something. Just imagine, what would have happened if I was a character in the 'nightmare in the elm street' movie. God!

                                           All that I wanted was a happy life and to be there for the people I love, but of course, the second one seems to be pretty hard and almost impossible. I guess it was my fifteenth episode, I went to sleep as usual, wondering if I will wake up the next day. Just as I dreaded, I did not wake up. After a week, when I woke up, I came to know that I will never see my dad again and that he took his last breath two days after I dozed off. Even though it was not my voluntary choice, I felt and still feel irresponsible for not being with my mom when she needed me the most and still regret the fact that I did not get my chance to say goodbye, one final time. Before that particular episode, I was grateful for my disorder partially because it had helped me bunk a lot of examinations at school, but, after that particular episode, I understood that of course this disorder is not a gift and that I have a heavy price to pay for it…..a lot and no princess can wake me up.

                                        This disorder of mine, of course has taught me the value of life, the value of time and that we have to make use of it the most. Procrastination, that is one that I can never do, because unlike other people, I can never be sure that I will do something the next day because I wont even be sure if I will wake up the next day. My life, could of course be told as unpredictable. But I really have to get up and I hope that it has not been four days since I dozed off. I have never committed myself to anything since I have never been certain of my own life and availability of myself, but of course, everybody will have to come out of their comfort zone one day for someone and my someone was my grandmom.

                                          The night that I last went to sleep in my room was 28th of May. I glanced at the 'Avengers', poster on my wall as I reminded myself the promise that I made to my Nona that day. I stood in front of the mirror and looked at the face on it. The face had a pair of bright electric blue eyes and sharp jaws with no stubbles. The messy hair which is shielding the brain that shuts down itself often. Lean figure, just like my Nona, in fact, nobody will believe that this figure in the mirror suffers from sleeping sickness. I looked into the blue eyes and with a resolute tone," do not doze off more than eight hours, you hear me?, that’s it, only eight hours, got it?", I said, and still here I am, lying on my bed, unable to wake up and recalling my own life and the promises I made.

                                               My grandmom is, well, the coolest Nona anybody could dream off. The promise that I made to her, to take her on a road trip on a bike……will be certainly enough to prove that she is really cool. In two weeks, I am going to leave for Rome to pursue my education in architecture, and of course I wont return for at least three years. This week could be my only chance to spend time with her since she has a chronic heart condition and I wanted to give her the best time of her life before I leave. I also know that she wanted to go on a bike trip only because I wanted to. I certainly cant go alone because of my condition. Today morning, when I was at her home, she came to me with a tray of my all time favourite chocolate cookies stacked on it. My Nona loves new trends regarding fashion and she herself does not look that old to be a woman in her 70's, a lean figure, yet pretty tall, she does not stoop a lot too, she used to be a fitness freak when she was young and still she is holding onto the benefits. Today, she was in a blue loose maxi with white flowers on it. Her perfect white hair, always maintained in the same shoulder length, was set perfectly too.

                                              I grabbed a few cookies and stuffed one into my mouth as she sat down. She actually took me by surprise when she asked me if we both could go on a road trip, on my bike, just like the way I wanted. I looked at her with a cookie stuffed in my mouth and understood that she was indeed not kidding. I always loved her, and at that moment I loved her more than anybody. " What about Mom? You know that she wont let me. Even to Rome, I am going there only because she is coming along". But she just waved her hand and said," don’t worry about your mother, I will take care of her, besides", she leaned forward, " I want to have a good memorable time with my adorable grandson". I grinned as she did," consider it done, we will roam around the whole country, for a whole week or maybe even more than that, we will leave on 30th, ok? Be ready, I will be here on 30th morning sharp, I promise", I don’t know what the hell I was thinking promising her like that while nothing in my life is promising. Of course she knows about my condition, but, I don’t want to let her down, who knows, if I miss this chance, then I wont get another chance to spend time with her again. I just have to get up……get up Zack….just get up for her…..get up……just then I heard her voice," it is 30th today Zack, don’t forget your promise, wake up", It is not possible at all….it is usually only me in my head, how is it possible for me to hear her voice like that? The next astonishing thing, the feeling of someone holding my hand, it felt like her wrinkled soft hands. Maybe I am getting up, yes!.....just then, I felt the feeling of her hands get fluctuated and her voice fade away……no…no…..it is 30th already, wake up Zack, please……., and then it happened……

                                             If you are wondering if I woke up and I kept my promise or was still trapped struggling to get out…..well…….I am currently in Rome studying the marvelous structures there, while the new tenant of my old house, you, are being PRANKED by my fabrication. Haha…well…gotcha, as I said, I love pranks and it was all a prank, well the fact that I am going to Rome and my grandmom being cool might be true…..but other than that…..well……they were all just my imagination. Hope you love the house and don’t get offended by my prank…..', I huffed and sighed as I looked up at my mom, who in no way was helping me was laughing at me. "Well, the owner of the house indeed told me that her son is a prankster, but never thought that you will fall for it Carol, right on the first day that we moved in. That was a nice one though, a fabricated diary left on purpose, so that some one might get fooled", she went away laughing, leaving me with the fake diary of a real person who has been pranking me right from the beginning.