DENTIST

You know it is amazing how your mind works.
A dream may last a few seconds and can seem
so real. For example I had this toothache for a few days and it was the
worst pain I've ever had. This was In1978. I went to the dentist and he
said it was an impacted wisdom tooth that had to be removed. I told the
dentist I was a little scared to have this done.
He said I had nothing to worry about, it would only take a few minutes
but you need to have this done.
I will give you a shot of sodium pentothal to put you to sleep and you
won't feel anything. I said fine let's take care of this. He then
proceeded to give me a shot.
He told me to count to ten and as I started counting,
I only got to five. I wasn't sure what was happening to me it was
scary, it seemed like my mind went back to 1952. Why did I go back to
that time when I was fourteen years old? I kept trying to focus on
something else but I had no control over where my mind was drifting, it
would keep going back to that year. I couldn't do anything about what
was happening. I kept thinking back to things that happen to me in the
past, all kinds of different things were coming up, suddenly my mind
was focusing back to this gas station that I used to hang around.
I got to know the owner pretty well and he would ask me to help out
around the station and would give me a few dollars a week. I could see
myself working,
I knew the dentist gave me a shot and I kept trying to count to ten but
it was crazy, because I knew I was seeing these different things. I
could see everything that was going on in my past. I could see this
little neighborhood grocery store right next door to the gas station,
were my mother used to go and buy groceries, and the owner would let
her sign for the items and pay the bill at the end of the month. At the
gas station I could see the gas was still 19? per gallon. The motor oil
would be sitting on this rack outside near the door in a long funneled
jar for 11? a quart. They'd fill the containers from a hundred-gallon
drum that was stored alongside the station. They'd pump the oil into
glass containers with a metal funnel on them, so it be easy to pour
into the engine.
I could see myself working around the gas station, putting air in the
tires of the cars and cleaning windshields and sweeping up around the
station.
It was very frightening for me looking down at this gas station and the
store. It was like I was right there, but I knew I wasn't, it was very
scary. I would see my brothers and my sisters and my mother and father,
but my mom and dad had passed away years ago.
It was like they were right there talking to me.
I kept moving my arms and legs trying to get up but I couldn't. It was
like I was frozen in one spot.
I couldn't figure out what was happening with me, I was so scared I
didn't know what to do. I would yell out to my mother and father to
help me, it seemed like my father put his hand on mine and without
saying anything, I felt better right away and it calmed me down. I
heard this voice that was telling me "don't worry about anything, you
will do real well in life and have a good job. As his voice was fading
away I could hear him telling me, I would be retiring from AOL in the
year 2001. I could hear myself in a loud voice asking what is that,
AOL? I don't know what that is, dad tell me, what does that mean? I had
no idea what he meant by that, retiring in 2001? I'm working part-time
in a television and radio repair shop, trying to make a few extra
dollars between that and the gas station. Before I could say anything,
my mind would go in all these different directions. I felt like I was
losing my mind, gas stations, the old store, AOL retirement. For some
reason, I would keep flashing back to the gas station watching these
old cars from the fifties pulling up to the pumps getting gas. Old
Studebakers and Pontiacs, its seemed like my mind was going a hundred
miles an hour. Before I could get my mind set on one thing my mind
would go in a different direction. Having flash backs to the gas
station, watching these old cars from the fifties pulling up to the
pumps getting gas. It was crazy, going from one thing to another; it
was hard for me to keep up with what was going on, it was like a movie
on fast forward one minute I would be talking to my mother and the next
minute I'd be joking with my brother and my father the next minute he
would be telling me how happy he and my mother were to be talking to
me. It seem like when I spoke, I was talking down a long tunnel with a
hollow sound that was scary.
As I reached out to hug my mother, I suddenly woke up staring right at
the dentist. I asked him what happened? where's my mother and father?
He looked at me with a strange look on his face and never answered me.
I asked him how long was I asleep? He looked up at the clock on the
wall and said "six minutes". He said, the nurse would give you some
coffee, which will help with the pain in your mouth. I will be back in
a few minutes to talk to you. Around 20 minutes later he came back into
the room. I stood up and told him right away, I was talking to my
mother and father, I was back in the 1950's.
He said it was from the shot he had given me that sometimes it works on
people that way. I said, but Doctor, I talked to my parents for over a
good hour. My dad told me that I would retire from AOL.
Doctor, what does that mean? AOL? The doctor answered, I have no idea.
The doctor put his hand on my shoulder and looked at me straight in the
face and said AOL, I don't know what that means, it makes no sense to
me. The nurse and him were laughing saying there was no such thing as
AOL and laughed a little bit more, as they were walking out of the
room. I heard them tell a few of the nurses, that I had some sort of a
dream, he keeps saying these letters that someone told him, while he
was sedated and then they all started laughing. They were making up all
these little things about--a--and--o--and--l trying to figure out what
it meant. The dentist came back in the room for a few seconds and said,
you were only out for five or six minutes and lots of people have these
visions after having this shot so forget about it, it means nothing. I
could never forget about it, Much later in my life I had heard about
this new company, which was just getting started. I applied for a job
with them and shortly after I went to work for them. Right away I
started saving as much money as I could. It seemed like I was calling
my broker quite often to buy stock in this company. I always remembered
what my father said to me, although a lot of people said I didn't talk
to anyone. They all believed it was the shot I had and that I was not
talking to my father, mother or anyone else at that time. I kept trying
to convince everyone that I did talk to him, but no one would listen to
me. I must confess, it made no sense at that time. It did later in the
years, when I did retire at a young age with a lot of stock in this
company
America Online.
I often wonder if the dentist is still laughing.
The End

A short story by Norman Clifford 8-11-2002