Lollipop Dreams

I glared at the ticket placed before me until the typed numbers appeared to be nothing more than squiggles. Tobacco wafted through the dusty air of my cramped apartment. The kitchen faucet dripped; each drop of water vibrating in my ears. Picking up the worn slip of paper with shaking hands, I flipped it over, quickly reading the claim written in bold ink:

"Abereiddi shelters you from all of life’s burdens. In this magical paradise, people who were once given death sentences now enjoy a bountiful and long existence. No diseases plague us. Poverty is all but vanquished. You have been invited to join our most prestigious establishment. Now ask yourself, what would you pay to be unaffected by disease?"

A nauseous feeling gathered deep within my gut as I heard the word “disease.” The physician’s voice replayed, like a scratched record, in my mind; “I’m sorry, William, but the tests indicate that you have a slowly progressing form of Dementia.”

I stifled a laugh because this must have been a joke. The doctor’s stern gaze revealed the truth. If this was a prank, it was a cruel one, I nervously thought. Doctor Vanu’s voice became a mere mumble as my mind tried in vain to find a safe place to hide. Only two years left to live in my decrepit and withered apartment, I bitterly thought.

As if overtaken by an unyielding force, I quickly ordered the tickets that would secure my very last journey. A slight glimmer of hope threatened to cascade through me. My raspy breath echoed as I pushed myself up on my weak legs. Taking a few steps to my living room door was enough to completely exhaust me, but I somehow managed to walk to the corner, drag my body onto the uncomfortable bus, and collapse into the first available seat.

“Are you going to Abereiddi?” came a softly spoken woman’s voice.

Barely grunting an incoherent reply, I glanced at the woman next to me. She was clothed in a pink Hello Kitty sweater with her matching pink fox ears seated prominently on top of her dark hair. I looked in confusion. She obviously wasn’t terminally ill, I thought, as my mind tried to make sense of her question.

A childlike giggle escaped her lips as she replied, “No, Sir. I’m not dying.”

My confused eyes met hers as she continued in a happy sing song voice, “I have a physical disability.” Lowering her voce as if telling me a huge secret, she continued, “The neurological research in this place is very promising.”

Startled, I replied, “Doesn’t everyone have some type of disability? I hate that term. It's dehumanizing!”

“That’s a good way to look at it, my Raven,” she quietly mumbled before snuggly squeezing my hand.

“Where do I know you?” I questioned as my mind desperately tried to remember her smile, her voice. “Why did you call me your Raven?” I asked with a bit more annoyance in my tone than I planned.

“You are my sunshine. My only sunshine,” she hummed as she put her hands on each side of my face, her deep brown eyes plunging into my soul.

“It’s you!” I exclaimed, hugging my wife, Sapphire, closely to me, enjoying the familiar and sweet aroma that always clung to her hair.

“I love you,” she replied as the bus whizzed sharply around the corner, causing us both to bounce into one another.

Waking up to her head on my shoulder, I appreciated the warm sunshine and cool breeze that delicately intertwined, forming the perfect combination. The sea salt air gently caressed my skin as I slowly traversed down the winding bus steps. It looked like the Cyprus of long ago, I thought cheerfully as I entered the expansive lobby with her hand in mine.

The sound of a woman’s high-heeled shoes could be heard reflecting their steady rhythm as they tapped across the marble floor. Billowing around her, the white lace of her dress caught in the spring-like air that danced through the room.

Approaching both Sapphire and me, she declared in a heavy Eastern European accent of some kind, “You’ve got to try this ...what’s the word...sweet,” as she produced a humongous bright pink and green lollipop from her designer bag. Thrusting it towards Sapphire, I could see the glitter reflected in the hard candy coating.

“No,” my beautiful bride exclaimed as her grip tightened on my hand before remarking, “That’s filled with LSD or something.”

“No, no, no,” proclaimed the woman, eyes widening from the chemical induced stupor. “My name is Melanie." Looking at the mysterious treat in the manner a love-struck girl would look at the high school heartthrob, she breathed deep before a smile spread across her face, “This is the cure to all our ailments. He says so!” she responded with furious indignation.

“Please tell me, Miss, what was your sickness?” questioned my wife through clenched teeth.

A giddy giggle echoed from the walls of the pristine lobby, “I had a rare blood disorder that they said would kill me, but the strange thing is this,” lowering her voice, she whispered into my ear, “I’m already dead.”

Thrusting the hard candy towards my lips, I shivered as I looked on in horror. Her skin fell off in patches; the open holes revealing the calcified bone underneath as she tore at her own eyes with her precisely manicured red nails. Streaks of crimson blood soaked through the white lace of her evening gown as pieces of flesh were flicked onto the shining floor. Her skeletal hand encircled Sapphire’s throat as the other hand brought the sugary treat close to her lips.

My words utterly failed me as I wrestled the tiny woman from the slowly decaying monster. We ran from the seemingly serene environment as if we were both escaping a nuclear war zone.