After the Dream

by Stan Mason

  ‘Will you kindly get to the point!’

  ‘It appears that the cocktail seems to prevent ageing,’ he revealed to her astonishment. ‘The animals have remained exactly the same over the years never getting older...very healthy....and they look the same as they did when I started the experiment. Some of them had a life expectancy of only two years yet ten years later they’re still alive and well.’

  ‘But you haven’t yet tested it on humans, have you?’ she forwarded rhetorically. It then dawned on her that she was the human-being used in the experiment. ‘I see.’ She inhaled deeply to take in the situation. ‘I’m the first one.’

  ‘I want you to take two ferradil-x tablets morning and evening,’ he repeated. ‘You see, I did that with the animals after they recovered from the side-effects and they thrived. The treatment will be exactly the same for you. Don’t you want to live as a young healthy woman for say two hundred years looking exactly as you do today?’

  The revelation took her breath away. Suddenly, everything in her life had changed. In her present situation, without a memory, she really had nothing to lose. If Mohammed was correct, she could be the first woman to look young even in old age. ‘If it works,’ she asked almost holding her breath for the answer, ‘will I really look the same as I do today....even when I’m a hundred?’ The question was posed in very quiet tones.

  ‘The animal seemed to do so. I can’t see why it shouldn’t work with you.’

  She exhaled deeply astonished at the prospect. ‘When do you want to see me again?’ Her mind was in a whirl as it tried to absorb all that he had told her and she hardly knew what she was saying.

  ‘I only need to see your every six months now,’ he told her solemnly. ‘You can go back to England and fly back here twice a year. I will continue to send the tablets to your home address.

  However there is one thing you need to do. You have to keep the experiment a secret. No one else needs to know otherwise I will be inundated with requests from millions of women demanding the tablets. It must not happen. Once you tell one person, the whole world will know. Can I have your promise on that?’

  She nodded her head slowly. ‘You have my promise. I won’t tell a soul.’ She paused to reflect the situation and another question entered her mind. ‘Will the tablets affect any other functions of my body....sexual or otherwise?’

  ‘Not to my knowledge,’ he replied. ‘The animals in the experiment carried on with their lives in a normal way. Some even had cubs.’

  Diana left the office in a daze. Would the experiment really be successful? Only time would tell. She now had two options. Firstly, to ignore the scientist’s advice and not take the tablets at all. Secondly, she could take them and hope for the best. However one thing was certain.....she would never tell her secret to anyone. It was her second secret; the first one being the content of her salacious dreams although Ahmed and Mohammed now knew of them. Other than that, her life was becoming full of clandestine secrets.

  Chapter Seven

  Diana was in a state of confusion when she returned to her room at the hotel. Her stay in Morocco was coming to a swift end and she placed the few items of clothing she had purchased on the bed in readiness for her departure. Laura had gone for a jog and Diana realised that she needed a holdall as there was insufficient clothing to fill a suitcase. She had asked Robbie to make arrangements for her to fly back to England....the word seared through her like a dagger. As far as she was concerned, Agadir was pleasant, warm and comfortable and she could spend time there on her own without interference from anyone. England was something quite different. Her position was almost untenable in that she knew no one there. In time her memory would return and she could deal with the matter in a casual fashion on her own but returning to her own country now meant that her life would be invaded by strangers..... Especially her alleged husband. She would not be allowed to get back to normality without pressure.

  Places would be blank in her mind; people who regarded themselves as her friends in the past would now be strangers because she could not remember their faces or the relationship she had with them. It would be an uphill struggle for quite some time. Not only was she fearful about facing reality but she was scared of embarrassing herself....and this was likely to happen often. It was an ordeal she was forced to undergo mainly because she could not stay in Morocco any longer now that Dr. Mahmoud wanted to see her only every six months. She no longer had any excuse to stay there.

  Laura came back shortly, perspiring in the heat and she flopped down tiredly on the chair.

  ‘I’ve got some news,’ she told her sister, ‘and it fits in with my plans perfectly. ‘My flight to Los Angeles takes off in six hours......long after yours to England. I need to get to the airport to get the flight ticket. I’ve got plenty of time to pack.’ She rose and went over to Diana to take her hands. ‘It’s been fantastic to see you again, sister,’ she advanced staring directly into her sister’s eyes. ‘Don’t forget about the invitation to South Burbank. You’re always welcome there. Mac, Rusty and Chuck’ll be delighted when I get back. I’m sad about your loss of memory but it brought us back together again if nothing else.’

  ‘Where did you get the names Rusty and Chuck from?’ laughed Diana easily.

  ‘Mac chose them. It was okay by me. They’re fine boys. Chuck’ll be a motor mechanic when he’s older. He’s a whiz with cars and engines. He takes after Mac. Rusty’s more academic. Maybe he’ll be a lawyer.’

  ‘Can you go to town and buy me a holdall?’ asked Diana. ‘I’ll need one for all this.’

  ‘Consider it done. I’ll be back in half an hour.’

  As she left, Robbie arrived smiling at his mother. ‘I just passed Aunt Laura in the corridor,’ he told her. ‘She said you’re leaving today. That’s great news. Have you made the flight arrangements?’

  ‘I thought I asked you to do it,’ bleated his mother fearfully.

  ‘No you didn’t, Mom. You probably thought you did. Don’t worry. I’ll contact the airport and get flight tickets for both of us. I’m not letting you travel back to England on your own. You’ll have to bear up with me as company. I don’t suppose you’ll remember where you live.’

  ‘You’re a good son,’ she said thankfully, hugging him with all the love she could muster. ‘Thank you so much, Robbie I really appreciate it.’

  ‘Hey!’ he laughed, extricating himself from her grip but still holding her arms. He stared directly into her eyes. ‘Why shouldn’t I do it. You’re my mother!’

  She smiled at him warmly wonder what she had done to deserve such a caring loving son.

  The flight back to Britain was scheduled at seven thirty that evening. Laura came to the airport to see them off, waving her arms vigorously as they boarded the plane. Diana waved back although she could not see her sister but she knew that she was there. The arrival of Laura in Morocco had been a real bonus re-establishing the relationship between them. They were speaking to each other after a long period of time which was a beneficial feature to say the least. Secondly, she could travel to Los Angeles any time she wished to live with her sister’s family. Yes...it was indeed a bonus!

  She sat next to Robbie as the aircraft took off. Leaving one world to enter another frightened her although she dared not convey her inner thoughts to her son. The nightmare she had experienced had come back but this time it was real. She felt that she was on a hiding to nothing.

  After they landed in Britain, Robbie led his mother to his car which he had left in the car park.

  ‘It’s an hour’s drive,’ he informed her. ‘Do you want something to eat at the airport before you leave?’ She declined his offer deciding that postponement was not the best strategy. It was a better plan to proceed to the hell she expected to face. ‘I rang Dad from Agadir,’ he told her. ‘He’ll probably be waiting for us when we get home.’

  ‘Proba
bly?’ she questioned in her mind. She turned to her son with a harshly critical comment. ‘I wonder if his work will allow him to do so. Maybe he won’t be there. In truth, I hope that he isn’t. I don’t really like the man I saw when I was in hospital and his lack of action has done nothing to make me change my mind.’

  He screwed up his face at her remarks. ‘You’ll soon get used to everything once I get you home. It’ll all fall back into place.’

  In due course, they arrived at her country house.. In the darkness she could barely see the tall fountain and the wishing-well which had flashed as a vision in her mind in Agadir. She

  stared at the façade of the house. This was the place she had seen which proved that her memory was beginning to return. However to her surprise there was only one light on in the hallway as Robbie led her to the front door.

  ‘Are you all right with this?’ he asked slowly opening the front door which was unlocked.

  His mother nodded and they went inside. She looked around furtively but nothing registered in her mind Charles was not at home as she had expected....he was tied up with his work. He had left a note on the mantelshelf in the lounge to apologise for his absence saying that he was unavoidably detained and would return in the morning. Things would certainly have to change in this household if she was ever going to experience any happiness in their marriage. The prediction of the visionary Mohammed came swiftly to mind and his words rang out in her ears.

  ‘You will eventually overcome your lack of confidence,’ he had told her. ‘It may take time but you will make love with Ahmed provided he will want to partner you in the exercise. It will not be just once but many times. I can even see you leaving your husband and living with him.’

  She considered his prediction very carefully. He may have been right after all about leaving her husband. Her first task, however, was to recover her memory. After that, anything might happen.

  ‘Sorry that Dad’s not here to meet you,’ muttered Robbie with disappointment in his voice. ‘Something important is holding him up.’

  ‘Yes,’ countered Diana acidly. ‘Like the world’s coming to an end... or the ozone layer’s collapsing... or aliens have arrived from outer space!’

  He shrugged his shoulder aimlessly almost not knowing how to respond. ‘I’ll stay the night with you,’ he offered sympathetically, ‘just so you can familiarise yourself with the place. I’ll ring Stella and tell her what’s going on.’

  He left her in the lounge staring at the décor. None of it registered in her mind. It was a beautiful room with elegant curtains, paintings on the walls, bright regency wallpaper, excellent furniture but she recalled absolutely nothing about it. Was this the place where she lived in the past? Was this how she really lived...in relative comfort.....in a house filled with affluence? She sat down gingerly on a settee and stared at the decorous paintings on the walls. No doubt each one of them would fetch a high price in an auctioneer’s room. In addition, the bric-a-brac which littered the room was exquisite. An exceptionally large globe of the world identifying the continents and major cities....a pair of large ceramic hunting dogs in the hearth....a beautiful standard lamp in the corner with a wonderful multi-coloured shade....as well as many other expensive items all of which assisted in the embellishment of the room.

  Robbie soon returned with two cups of coffee on a tray and some cakes and biscuits on a plate. ‘Here,’ he told her. ‘This’ll warm you up.’ He sat down opposite her. ‘Is anything familiar to you yet?’

  She took one of the cups of coffee shaking her head slowly. .No,’ she bleated miserably. ‘Nothing. Nothing at all.’

  ‘Well at least you’re home now,’ he stated. ‘That’s one thing which ought to please you. There’s no lace like home.’

  Diana wished that she could confirm that comment but it was far from the truth. At that moment, she was displeased to have left Agadir. Worse still, she deplored the fact that she would come face-to-face with the man who called himself her husband the next day.

  * * *

  Sleep didn’t come easily to her that night. The surroundings were strange to her even though she had once lived in the house for many years in comfort. The trauma was never going to end until her memory came back and there was the matter of the experiment being carried out by Dr. Mahmoud. The import of his studies were beginning to worry her now that she was such a long distance away from him. What if he was wrong in his assumptions? The experiment may have worked on animals but it was unproven on human-beings. It was possible that the tablets would have no effect on her in the long run. She would have simply been wasting her time taking them and suffering the side-effects. If that happened, she would just grow old like everyone else It might be that the Wizard of Agadir was but another lunatic scientist hoping to make his mark on the world. And then she remembered Betty Naylor, the woman who he had cured of pancreatic cancer when everyone else had given up on her. Fate or fortune.....which one was it?

  Diana rose from her bed in the middle of the night to stare at

  herself in a full-length mirror. Her skin was smooth...very smooth. She had no lines on her forehead or under her eyes and she appeared to be very young.....about fifteen years younger than her actual age. By taking the tablets, would she still look that way in ten or twenty years time? In the confines of her elegant bedroom, doubt crossed her mind. Surely Dr. Mahmoud was off-beam in thinking that he could stave off old age and lengthen life! Methuselah was purported in the Bible to have live for over nine hundred and fifty years but that figure was highly debatable. Someone surely had made a huge mistake in their calculations. After all , no one knew of ferradil-x in ancient times....or did they? Was it possible for a human-being to live for two hundred years as the scientist had predicted? It was a mind-shattering concept for a person who might be expected to live that long. Furthermore, if the experiment happened to be successful, how could she retain the secret? People would begin to notice that she never aged and they would want to talk to her about it. What could she say...how could she explain what was going on? It was quite clear that she was in a catch twenty-two position which ever way she looked at it.

  As she stood in front of the mirror, a fleeting flash crossed her mind of three other women sitting at a green-baized table. She didn’t recognise any of them but they were playing cards....a game of bridge. As the vision ended she felt a degree of pleasure in the knowledge that her memory did have a life of its own after all. It was coming back! However, the night was going to be quite memorable for her because half an hour later, as she slept, her body began to twitch and then entered a phase of unusual contraction. She shuddered violently, her arms trembling, her body shaking, her legs moving involuntarily, as though she was experiencing an epileptic fit. Not only that but vicious pains shot through her body until she could stand it no longer. Perspiration ran down her face as well as all over her body and she was forced to scream at the top of her voice as a result of the pain. Within a couple of minutes, she stopped shaking and took a deep breath in relief as the pain passed away. What was going on? Dr. Mahmoud had told her that she would have no more side-effects yet this one had been riveting and extremely painful. Shortly, the door opened and Robbie entered, staring at her before hurrying to the bed.

  ‘Are you all right, Mom?’ he called out, trying to get her attention. ’What’s wrong?’

  The agony she had suffered showed in her face but she shook her head not wishing to worry him. ’It’s nothing, Robbie,’ she managed to say. ’Just a bad nightmare. Go back to bed. I’m sorry I woke you.’

  He stayed with her for a while offering to bring her a cup of tea but she shook her head refusing it. After a while, he left the room, satisfied that she was all right although he had noticed the excess perspiration on her face.

  Diana lay back and tears began to run down her cheeks. Nothing was going right. Now her body had started contractions ....the whole of her
body! Something was definitely wrong. Should she continue to take two tablets of ferradil-x morning and evening every day? Why not give them up and lead a normal life without them? But then she was the subject of a serious experiment that might eventually change the lives of every person on the planet if it proved to be successful. It was a problem of an ethical nature which haunted her right into the start of the day.

  It was pointless to expect her husband to come early. In fact Charles arrived at twelve-thirty in the afternoon. During the morning, Diana wandered her way through the house going from room to room, hoping that something would spark in her brain but there was no impression of the past at all until she came to the kitchen. Even though nothing registered, she seemed to know where everything had been placed or stacked....the cupboards with the crockery, the drawers with the cutlery, the odd items that only a housewife would know where to find them. She even knew how to operate the washing-machine recalling that one of the switches always got stuck. Into her mind came the comments of a radio interviewer who once said that however old a person is, if they had driven a car in their lifetime, they would always remember how to drive even if they lost their memory. How true that seemed to be! Perhaps it was instinctive for her to recognise where everything was in the kitchen or maybe it was something more.

  Robbie left at eleven o’clock and she settled down in the lounge reading a magazine as she waited for her alleged husband to arrive. Eventually the door opened and Charles entered moving towards his wife with the intention of kissing her. However she deliberately drew away preventing him from doing so. This was the man she still didn’t recognise and to whom she had taken a particular dislike. How could she have married such a pompous person...someone who obviously cared so little about her?

  ‘I should imagine you’re annoyed with me because I didn’t come to see you in Agadir,’ he began without any kind of remorse.