Dr. Werthem's Dream

I woke at about 4am with my left eye itching horribly. I wasn't really surprised by waking up so early, as a project at work had thrown my sleep schedule all out of whack. So I crawled out of bed and staggered to the bathroom to look and see what was wrong.

Each footstep sent sent stilettos of agony through my eye socket. My knees started to get weak and I slammed my shoulder into the door frame entering the bathroom. I turned on the light and leaned in close to the mirror to see the problem, but it was pretty obvious. A reddish-brown stick about half an inch long was protruding from the left corner of my left eye. I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what the hell it could be when another shockwave of pain roared through my head, buckling my knees. I grabbed the sink and dragged myself back up, almost afraid to look in the mirror.

A second stick was now visible, in the right corner of my eye, and both were moving. Tears were streaming down my cheeks, and as I watched more sticks appeared. They were clearly crab-like legs, and through the slowly dulling pain I could tell they were coming from behind my (now slightly bulging) eye. I panicked—could I drive myself to the emergency room, when I could barely walk? What the hell was it in there?

I opened the medicine cabinet and took out an old stretch bandage and started wrapping it around my head, covering the afflicted eye. On the third time around, the original itching sensation started to build, and I felt movement under the wrappings. I clasped my hands over the eye, and felt something squirming, pushing against the cloth. I was startled and jerked by hand back, letting the bandage fall away. I felt searing pain, and my brain reeled from the distortion of my vision. My knees finally collapsed, slamming my head against the tile wall.

I don't think I blacked out completely; I was just stunned for a moment. My vision was completely blurred, but I saw movement on the floor near me. It only took a moment to realize that the small creature skittering away from me, chitinous legs scrabbling across the hard wood floor, was my left eye. I immediately panicked, knowing that if the cat saw this thing, it would be ruined forever.

And then I woke up, my pillows drenched with sweat. It was about 4am, and there was this terrible pain behind my left eye. I haven't been able to shake it all day.

[May, 2002]