Edward's Dilemma by Paul Adan Page A

you!  Do you hear me?  Be gone!”
    Immediately, the slime retreated away from Edward’s mouth, down his torso and legs, off the bed, and back into the walls.  Edward breathed a huge sigh of relief.  For several minutes he simply stood on his bed, his mouth gaping open in horrified disbelief.
    A loud knock on the door snapped Edward’s attention away from the walls.  Curious , he thought, who could be visiting me at this late hour?   After yelling, “Come in,” his mother emerged through the doorway.  Strangely, she was dressed like a CO, but she was also wearing an apron.  In her hands she carried a casserole dish containing lasagna.
    Edward was ecstatic to see his mother.  It had been a long time since he’d seen her.  They talked, and talked, and talked until his mom finally encouraged him to eat.  Edward didn’t need to be told twice; by now he was starving.  With unbridled enthusiasm, he grabbed a spoon, licked off some crusty stuff that was stuck on it from his previous meal, and dug into the food.  But he was sorely disappointed at what he found.
    Out of the dish, worms began to emerge.  At first, they remained confined to the casserole dish.  But it wasn’t long before they began to crawl up the spoon and onto Edward’s hand.  A short time after that, they were inching their way up his arm, along his neck, and towards his mouth.  Edward screamed.
    “Help!   There’s worms on me!  Help!”
    As they entered his mouth, and nose, Edward gagged.  He coughed and sputtered as the worms went down his throat and into his stomach.  Edward was terrified, and felt like he was on the edge of insanity.  He feared he was being eaten alive, but from the inside out.  Again, he called out to Jesus.  He was desperate.
    “In the name of Jesus, I command you to be gone!  Be gone, I tell you!  Be gone!”  This time, nothing happened.  So he called out again.  “Be gone, I tell you!  In JESUS CHRIST’S name, be gone!”  Still nothing...
    Just then, another visitor came in through the door.  He said his name was Jason, and he was also dressed like a CO.  Edward didn’t recognize him, but he looked vaguely familiar.  All of a sudden, he grabbed Edward by the neck and shoved a little garden tool into his mouth.  It looked like a little shovel, like something a person would use to plant flowers – or dig for worms.
    It worked!  The worms were gone.  Edward looked around and noticed that both his mother and Jason were also gone.  Suddenly, there was a loud noise.
    “SLAM!”
     
    ♦   ♦   ♦
     
    EDWARD AWOKE from his sleep in a cold sweat.  His clothing was drenched, and he was shivering from the dampness.  Even his sheets were moist with sweat.
     
     
    Stuart Co. Jail, 3SouthF
    12 September, 7:42 AM
     
    HE FELT he was losing it – mentally – and he had to speak with a Mental Health Professional – ASAP.  Whatever meds he’d begun taking were giving him hallucinations and disturbing dreams.  This bothered Edward tremendously, and he didn’t like what was happening to him.  His dreams had always been his place of solace; a place where he could escape from the world.  Now that he was in jail, he felt that he couldn’t live without them.
    After filling out a Kite addressed to MHP, Edward had second thoughts.  If I wait for them to respond to my Kite, it could take days.  Why not just stop taking the meds whenever they’re offered to me?  What harm would it do?  I’ve only been taking them a short time, anyway?   The more he thought about it, the more determined he became to no longer accept any medications – period.
     
    Stuart Co. Jail, 3SouthF
    13 September, 2 :43 AM
     
    ONCE AGAIN, Edward was on the verge of self-destructing.  He’d hardly slept at all during the previous twenty-four hours, and the lack of sleep was beginning to wear on him.  All night long he had paced about in his cell liked a caged lion; the difference, of course, being that Edward