Mind Hopping

Samuel shrugged his shoulders to ease the weight of his backpack on my shoulders and
started up the flight of stairs. Once at the end of the staircase he turn right and continue
striding towards the colorful benches and tables, prepared by the school for both teachers and
students. He drop his heavy weight of books and backpack on the table and began to wonder
did they choose these brightly colored tables to make the school look more cheerful or just to
make the students spend less time using them. He took a seat on one of the benches and laid
his head on the table. His eyelids were growing heavier till the slit of vision was finally sealed.
Suddenly, he was back at the staircase. A feeling of Déjà vu just crossed his mind but he ignored
it and so he continued his regular routine and headed up the stairs only to find that another he
was sleeping soundly on the table. This can’t be possible, I feel wide awake. How can this be?

He headed to the tables to wake himself up. When he woke up he heard a thud coming
from the bench he was sitting on. He saw his friend, Ng, lying on the floor. Ng was tall and had
particularly lean features; he wasn’t all that good in school work and has not really taken an
interest in sports. In fact he wasn’t interested in anything, but he is an exceptional prefect. He
dragged Ng on the bench by his shoulders and gave him a slap on the cheek to wake him up. Ng
woke up immediately in a confused state and returned the slap Samuel gave him.

“What did you do that for?!” Samuel retorted.

“You slapped me.” Ng replied “I didn’t know a girl could slap that hard.”

“I am not a girl.” He sneered “You fainted, so I woke you up. What happened anyway?”

“I was walking up the stairs, I blacked out all of a sudden and now I’m here. Care to explain
that?”

“I had the strangest dream. I dreamt –“

“What does a dream have anything to do with me fainting?” Ng interrupted.

“Let me finish first.” Samuel drew in a long breath and explained his whole experience.

“Wow that’s amazing!” Ng said sarcastically “Am I supposed to believe that you can mind
control people with your sepet eyes shut?”
 “If you have another reason I’d like to hear it.”

“I don’t believe you; if you are a boy prove it.”

“Ok fine I’ll prove it.” Samuel said before laying his head on the table and drifting off to
sleep.

Ng stared at Samuel confident that he had won the argument. Suddenly a teacher had
struck him with a cane from the behind.

“Ow! Puan Lim what did I do?!.” Ng replied rubbing his back

“Yo Ng! It’s me.” She replied.

Ng stared with disbelief. “Sepet, is that really you?”

“Ya I know, I’m a little shocked too.” They both paused and a long silence continued.

Samuel broke the silence. “I think I should return Puan Lim.”

“I agree.”

“When I sit down at her table you wake me up, Ok?”

Samuel walked towards the staff room almost tripping on the high heeled shoes his
teacher was wearing. When he reached his teacher’s desk he sat down and waved at Ng. Ng
immediately woke up Samuel who was still snoozing on the table.

“Well that was weird. Let me focus for a moment.” Samuel pressed on his temples.

Samuel felt severe migraine acting on his head and suddenly bent over on instinct. He
threw up on the floor, for quite a while. After the vomiting feeling had resided he cleared he
cleared his mouth with the water from a tumbler in his backpack.

“Yo dude, are you ok?” Ng asked

“A little better, but this headache won’t go away.” Samuel replied.

A muffled voice in the background signaled that it was time for the duo to do their duty
as prefects of the school. Tiptoeing around the large pile of vomit of upchuck, they headed
towards the staircase. Their job was to bar passage to students from heading up the stairs so
the school could avoid mischief happening during the morning assembly and among other
reasons.

“I should stay awake for as long as I can. If only this migraine can disappear.” Samuel began
 “We could do lots of things with this opportunity and even exact revenge on the teachers.”
Ng replied

“If only it came with an instruction …” Samuel yawned “manual.”

Once again Samuel’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier and before he knew it he was
asleep. Ng was left standing there beside Samuel wondering who his friend possessed this time.
Suddenly, he heard the shout of the school’s discipline teacher, Mr. Ismawi, coming from the
school compound and immediately rushed to the source of the noise. When he reached he saw
Mr. Ismawi kneeling down and rubbing his temples. Mr. Ismawi was a strict teacher and liked
punishing students or at least has a reputation of punishing students; in classrooms, he wasn’t
strict at all and usually joked but unfortunately he wasn’t looking too happy today.

The teacher caught sight of Ng and yelled “WAKE ME UP! WAKE ME UP! FOR GOD’S SAKE
WAKE ME UP!”

Ng quickly rushed towards his friend and shook him. Samuel woke up in a violent state,
rubbing his temples and pulling his hair. All of a sudden he fainted.

Samuel woke up in the inner staff room on a hard but surprisingly comfortable sofa. He
looked around and saw light blue plastic chair covered with medicine and ointments by his side.
He couldn’t get up because he felt like his muscles were pudding. In the distance, he heard the
sound of two sets of footsteps, one rather soft and another louder and higher pitched. He
figured the two people heading his way were a man and a woman. The two figures appeared
out of the passageway from the outer staff room, one was his mother and another was his
geography teacher, Mr. Azrul. Another discipline teacher, he was exactly like Mr. Ismawi but in
attitude not in features. He was strict and also joked in classrooms.

His mother rushed towards Samuel as she caught sight of him “Are you ok?”

“I still have a terrible headache.” Samuel replied.

“Come on, were going to the clinic”

“I can’t move my legs feel like pudding.”

Mr. Azrul spoke “Let me get the stretcher from the health room.”
 When his teacher left he explained the whole experience to his mother but his mother
called him delusional. When he heard the sound of the same pair of footsteps both of them
realized his teacher had returned. They lifted him on the stretcher and went down the stairs.
On the way to the car they passed the Open School Assembly Hall. His friends waved goodbye.

“Hey Ng! can you tell me if you get any homework today.” Samuel said

“Look at this guy he almost died and he still cares about homework.” The rest of his friends
broke into laughter.

When they reached the car his teacher lifted him from the stretcher and settled him on
the backseats of his car. Mr. Azrul had folded the stretcher neatly and tucked it in the trunk of
his car. His mother took a seat in the front passenger seat while his teacher drove. When the
car started moving Samuel’s eyes grew heavy but he quickly realized he was falling asleep. I
must keep awake; I don’t want another incident to happen. It’s far more dangerous this time;
I’m in a moving vehicle.

When they reached the clinic they went through the same routine of lifting and setting
down. The clinic was empty at this hour so he was rushed in immediately. They went into one
of the backrooms of the doctor’s office. He noted the plaque on the door
‘Examination Room’ he was shifted again onto an elevated black cushioned
bed. Mr. Azrul took a seat in the one readily prepared chair-like bench. Samuel’s mother
however still stood gazing at her child and stroking his forehead. He returned the gaze and took
note of the worried look on her face. Then his mother turned to away. He followed her gaze
and saw that the doctor was in the corner of the room, he hadn’t even noticed the doctor
enter. The doctor was a rather plump man with a wide jaw. He was dressed in a white coat and
wearing thick spectacles.

“Sorry for the loud entrance……… was late .... soon as I go your….. back here….” the doctor
said in a husky voice

“Doctor……my son, he fain……”

“He was …..duty….fainted….not sure…..

Samuel strained his ears to listen but the conversation faded. He waved his hands to get
attention from the trio. All three of them look at him confused.

“I Can’t Hear!” he said while motioning at his ears

The three changed their looks from confused to serious. The doctor reached to the side
of Samuel’s head and snapped his fingers to test his hearing. Then he sighed and said
something to Samuel’s mother which made her break into tears. Suddenly the migraine
returned worse than ever. Samuel was thrashing violently in bead despite his aching muscles.
Suddenly, he felt someone grasp his arm followed by a sharp pain and blurred vision.

Samuel’s mother was sitting outside the doctor’s office recalling the conversation.

“Doctor My son, he fainted”

“He was on duty when he fainted, he had terrible migraine, nausea, muscle weakness and he
threw up all over the floor.”

“These are all signs……”

“I Can’t Hear!”

“I’m sorry to say, that your son has a brain tumor. We have to get him to a hos……

“Try to calm him down.”

“I’m going to sedate him!”

The words of the doctor still echoed in her head, your son has a tumor…..Your son has a
tumor. Good memories of her son flashed through her mind which brought tears in her eyes.
She wiped her tears away when she heard the door to the doctor’s office click and the
doorknob turn. The doctor appeared in the doorway; he walked over to her side and took a
seat. Mr. Azrul had already returned to school due to an urgent matter with another parent.

“I have informed the nearest hospital.” the doctor began “and requested an ambulance be
brought here.”

“How could this have happen?”

“It is unclear how a tumor forms.”

“My son had told me a story when he woke up from the previous migraine.” She told the
doctor the same story her son had told her.

After she had explained, she was surprised that the doctor’s face changed from worried to
surprise.

“Why is it you seem so surprised?”

 The doctor paused for a moment and began “When I was in Harvard University I had a friend
his name was Oleg. He had come all the way from Russia to study. His field was psychology of
dreams.”

Aware that Samuel’s mother was shivering cause of the cold emanating from the air
condition “Are you cold? Would you like me to switch off the aircon?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Where was I?” he paused for a moment to collect his thoughts and continued. “Oh, my
friend’s field of study, he studied the wishes of one’s unconscious thoughts. One day he told me
a theory he had picked up upon flipping pages of a book called….umm I forgot the title, but it
was about theories of the human mind being possessed by supernatural spirits, demons etc. So,
if possession of the human mind is possible, who’s to say your son’s story is false. Although
it’s…….”

The doctor stopped his story as soon as he heard the sound of sirens wailing. “The
ambulance is here, I will get your son.”

“Do you need any help?”

“No I think I’ll be fine.”

The doctor headed back in the examination room and wheeled out the stretcher Samuel
was still snoozing on. When he headed out of the clinic a bright white ambulance was blocking
the half the road. Upon seeing her son she broke into tears again, reminded of her son’s current
condition. The doctor transferred Samuel on another stretcher provided by the paramedics.
They were dressed in dark blue uniform and wrapped in a bright colored yellow vest. Samuel’s
mother thanked the doctor for all his help and headed into the ambulance followed by the
stretcher.

The ride towards the ambulance was a quiet one but Samuel’s mother couldn’t care less
about the awkward silence. She stroked her son’s hand throughout the whole journey. At the
front of the hospital the ambulance stopped to a screeching halt, and the doors of the
ambulance opened. The sudden bright light left a black patch in her vision which quickly faded.
Suddenly, there she heard a scream from a woman outside the ambulance. She rushed to check
out the commotion outside. There were people looking at a paramedic screaming and shouting
at the front of the hospital. It was the driver of the ambulance.
 The driver caught sight of Samuels’s mother and yelled “MOM WAKE ME UP! IT HURTS!”

Convinced it was her son she headed inside the ambulance and saw her thrashing son
“Wake him up.”

“No, we can’t the pain will continue, we have to keep him sedated.”

She pointed at her son “Does it look like he’s not in pain.” She snapped “Please wake him
up.”

The paramedics injected her son left arm with medication which resulted in him getting
up in pain and in a screaming state. Both of the paramedics quickly wheeled the stretcher into
the hospital. Passing hallways and staircases they reached a double sided door with a sign

saying ‘ Operating Theater 3’. One of the paramedics barred Samuel’s mother
passage into the Operating Theater and offered her a seat on a bench by the side of the room.
She sat down and felt tears trickle down her cheeks. A while later the sound of footsteps made
her whip her head to the direction of the sound. It was quite a sight, several surgeons covered
dressed in blue outfits, facemasks, and hairnets. Accompanying them were several nurses with
white uniform carrying surgical tools and one dragging an IV pole carrying IV bags. The group of
medically trained men and women rushed into the room Samuel had just been brought into.

When they entered she could hear the faint scream of her son when the door opened, it
had stopped when the group went inside and the door closed. After that she continued
sobbing. After a while she saw woman dressed in a rather formal outfit walking down the
hallway she passed. She wiped away the tears from her eyes only to find that the woman was
Teacher Jothi, Samuel’s primary school discipline teacher. When she arrived she sat down and
began a conversation with Samuel’s mother.

“My son had an accident, and just went through treatment. I heard about Samuel and
thought I could pay you a visit. What happened? I was only informed that he was hospitalized in
the same hospital my son was in.” She said.

“My son is *sob* going through surgery *sob*. The doctor said he *sob* has a brain tumor.”

Teacher Jothi stared with her mouth wide open “Samuel Has a Brain Tumor?! How could this
have happened?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Just explain ….”

 Teacher Jothi’s phone rang, so she answered. She was speaking in Tamil so Samuel’s
mother couldn’t understand.

“I have to leave now; Surendran is finally allowed to be discharged from the hospital.”

“Oh, okay tell Surendran I said hello.”

“Will do and I hope Samuel’s operation is a success. Goodbye.”

Samuel’s mother watched Teacher Jothi as she walked down the hallway before she
turned and was completely out of sight. She leaned on the wall behind her and looked at the
wall clock nailed to the wall in front of her. The wait was long and tiresome. To her it felt like
hours what had only been minutes. After awhile she began pacing the floor and occasionally
sitting back down onto the bench. After about two hours. A nurse came out of the operating
theater; to Samuel’s mother it looked like an angel of hope. Samuel’s mother stood up and
rushed towards the nurse.

“Nurse, how is my son?”

“I’m sorry to say……..”

The beeping sound of the machine indicating pulse grew slower and fainter till it reached
the flatline. The surgeon shook her head and sighed. She then sewed up the deceased patient
lying on the operating table and placed all the tools and equipments into metal bowls to be
disinfected for future use. She then covered the body with a light blue cloth and pulled of her
facemask and threw it into the nearest dustbin. she removed her latex gloves and threw it in
the dustbin, she then washed her hands and applied hand sanitizer.

“Nurse, bring this one to cremation.”

“It say’s this one was only fourteen on the description.”

“It doesn’t matter now, he’s reached the end. As Suresh always said, you are never too
young to die.”

“Well Suresh is always a bit sadistic, even for a surgeon.”

“Are you saying surgeons are supposed to be kind and clear minded people?”
 “I didn’t mean to….”

She cut in. “Don’t sweat it, I’m just joking and Suresh was always an as….”

A digitalized tone came from the inside the surgeons pocket. She removed the beeper
from her pocket and read the text

From: Suresh16@yahoo.com
SUB: Operating Theater
MSG: Are you done with that patient yet
we need you in the Operating Theater 13.
“Who was that?”

“The same asshole we were talking about, he wants me in the operating theater, got to go.”

“Yeah better get to it.”

The surgeon picked up a new pair of gloves and a facemask before leaving the surgical
room. She climbed many flights of stairs and passed many hallways before reaching the
Operating Theater. She saw a woman sitting on a bench fast asleep with her arms crossed.
Before getting into the operating theater she slipped on her gloves and facemask. When she
entered she saw Suresh grinning at her, on the table was the shaved patient all sewed up.
Rather expertly by the looks of the stitching.

“What’s the situation?”

“Patient is all sewed up and tumor removed.” Suresh replied still grinning.

“Then why did you call me here?”

“To rub our achievement in your face, we removed the tumor all without your expertise.”

The surgeon pulled the facemask off and slipped off her gloves. “URRGH, Suresh you ass you
made me walk all the way from the east wing of the hospital to get here so you can show off!”

“Yes, the walking thing was just a bonus.”

She stomped her feet on the floor and left the operating theater.
 Still grinning Suresh spoke. “Nurse, you can inform the patient of her son’s condition. He is
all better and his tumor is removed, but he has permanently lost his entire memory except for
the basics like counting and talking.”

“Yes doctor.” She responded quickly and left the operating theater.

Samuel woke up from his sleep on a reclined bed with metal bars by the side in a room
with a large window covered by drapes. He turned and saw a woman sitting by his side smiling
at him.

“Who are you?” he asked, his face was expressionless.

“I am you mother and your name is Samuel Tan Juan Yu.” She drew out a picture of their
family on vacation and pointed. “This man here, he’s your father.”

“Where am I?”

“You are in a hospital.” She then explained the whole story to him.

“The nurse said you can leave this place in three days.”

“Ok.”

She smiled at her son and gave him a hug and a tear ran down her eye.

“Why are you crying?” He asked, his expression still remained the same.

“I thought I lost you, like your brother.”

“I had a brother?” his expression changed from blank to confused.

“Yes, his name was Nicholas.” She drew out a picture of his brother. “He died in an accident.
He was riding his bike too fast and hit an oncoming car. He was nine years old when that
happened.”

“Oh I feel very sorry.”

“You have a dog, its name is ……..

40 Years after the incident…..
The lights were dim in the room and soft jazz was playing. The bouquet made a
wonderful centerpiece if only it didn’t block half of his view. Samuel glanced at his wife; she
was dressed in a beautiful scarlet red dress still smiling from the bittersweet moment. Samuel
could see the sadness in her eyes, she was about to lose the only son she has. He turned around
and saw that his old friend was at the entrance dressed in a formal outfit. He stood up and
walked towards the entrance to greet his friend.

“Hey Ng, glad you could make it to my son’s wedding dinner.”

“No problem you’re my oldest friend and the only sepet friend I have, how could I miss your
son’s wedding.” Ng’s face widened into a grin

“It’s been so long and my eyes still haven’t changed.”

“Nope, not one bit.”

“That word brings back so many memories, and it’s a sign that you haven’t changed either.”

Ng whispered. “So, are you still mind controlling people?”

“Please don’t talk about it.”

“Sorry to offend you.”

“Come sit up front with me.”

“Let me call my wife.”

Ng went out of the building and returned with a woman dressed in blue. Then Samuel led
them to the table. As they took a seat the lights dimmed and a spot light lit up to the entrance.
At the entrance stood a man dressed in a tuxedo and a woman dressed in a white evening
gown. His son and daughter in-law had arrived. As they made their way along the red carpet the
music they have both chosen for this particular moment played. As reached the table Samuel’s
son pulled the chair for his wife to sit before taking a seat of his own.

The wedding had played out according to plan the performances were spectacular and
Samuel got to meet many old friends like wee his old classmate and Monnie his old flame.
Surprisingly everyone he greeted returned his responded to his greeting in a same phrase “Hey
Sepet long time, no see.” That night after the wedding and he was back home he wrote a letter.
 Samuel inserted it into an envelope and sealed it. He then placed the letter on the table by
Gloria’s bedside. He then went to the front porch of the house. He saw Matthew sitting in the
middle of the porch drinking some left over Champaign from the wedding dinner. He pulled up
a stool and sat beside him.

“Ahh, the stars are beautiful tonight.” Samuel began.

“Yes they certainly are.”

“Come let’s go out, I feel a bit peckish.”

Samuel and his son headed out the gate and went into the ebony black car parked at the
front gate of the house. They drove towards the café’ nearby, and took 5 minutes to find a
parking spot. The café’ was built recently; the interior was made of wood and cement and had a
warm and cozy feeling to it. The air was filled with a mix of vanilla and cinnamon. They gave
their order to a rather perky waitress dressed in regular clothing wrapped in a black apron with
a cap. The both of them had a friendly chat while they ate their supper of French toast. Then
the pair got back into the car and began their drive home. Samuel took a different route and
stopped in the middle of a suspension bridge built over a river way down below. .

“Dad, why are we stopping here?”

“Well, Matthew to get a better look at those stars.”

 Matthew looked up and saw the sky was clear and filled with stars. “Yes they are beautiful
from here.”

The both of them leaned on the railing of the bridge and stared at the sky.

“Son, do you think I am a good father.”

“Yes, the best and only one I have.”

Samuel shifted his view from the sky to his son. “Then do you trust me?”

Matthew returned his father’s gaze with a worried look. “Yes, with my life. Dad are you
trying to tell me something?”

“I have been keeping a secret from you and your mother for quite some time now; I have
pierced the veil of the present and seen into the future. This new ‘gift’ has made my life
meaningless and miserable. I have seen you and your mother’s deaths repeatedly, it is driving
me insane.

“I thought you had control of your abilities.”

“This one was a new one, it first happened at the beginning of the year. Life is full of
mysteries and one man cannot know all the answers. Unfortunately I have seen all the answers
and everything seems pointless now. The last vision I had was the end of all things we know, it
was Judgment Day. I have seen so many deaths in one dream that I can’t bear to dream again.”

“Dad what are you trying to do?”

A tear ran down his cheeks “I…I.” he paused. “This ‘gift’ is not a blessing as everyone calls it,
it’s a curse. I didn’t ask for it and yet I have to pay for it with fourteen years of my life! I lost my
experiences with my brother, I forgot everything that day! I just can’t take it anymore, I love
you son.”

Matthew’s eyes widened. “DAD?!”

Samuel climbed on the railing. “Take care of you mother for me.”

Samuel leapt of the ledge with his arms apart and closed his eyes. He thought of all the
good memories he could remember, the day Matthew entered his life, the memory of his wife
holding his baby boy in her arms smiling up at him. The day he met his mother in the hospital
after the incident, he also remembered the day he had met his wife. He could still hear the
shout of his son from the bridge. When the cold water hit everything grew blur and slowly
faded out of view.