Daisy and the Phantom Nurse

Note from the Authoress: I had hoped to keep working on “Lanterns' ' but a sudden onset of a later Summer Cold has caused me to pause it. I will keep working on it, but progress is slow. The illness is retreating. But as I laid resting in bed, high on antibiotics, sweating out the fever as the seemly never ending heatwave, ruins crops, dried out creeks and keeps reducing my little corner of the earth to dust, but anyway, as I lay recovering this idea popped into my head and refused to leave. So I hope you enjoy it. I think this story will be told in four parts. The first part will be an introduction, though a short one. The second one will focus on the main conflict of the story, the third part will be the falling acting. And the fourth and final part will the main character reflecting on the events of the story.

According to the date that was written on the dry erase board that I was looking at, today was October 31, 2023. It was a Tuesday and it was also Halloween and right now I was sick, well not really sick, according to the doctor I was mending, but still I had not been deemed well enough to be released and so it seemed I would spending this fable holiday in room 412 on the fourth floor of Mississippi Medical Center. Enduring the last waning effects of pneumonia and drinking every color of Gatorade known to man.

I was beyond disappointed. I had hoped to spend the holiday cuddling with my girlfriend, or spending the night with my arm wrapped around, while we roasted marshmallows for s'mores and washed it down with cups of strong black coffee. And while we snacked on our s'mores and sipped our coffee we would swap stories of the supernatural. Instead I was stuck in bed, feeling like crap.

But there was a silver lining to this. I now had the chance to prove once and for all that all this talk about a phantom nurse was a load of rubbish. My sudden illness had given me a once in a lifetime chance to prove once in for all that the accounts my friends had told me of a phantom nurse that was supposed to roam this hospital was nothing more than a byproduct of fever and illness.

And according to my girlfriend, Cerridwen, there was suppose to a evil nurse. One who was supposed to be the good nurse's counterpoint. And I for one did not believe those stories. And in fact I had a plan to prove those stories were just stories. For that I had enlisted the help up a friend, who I will not mention by name. But let call them friend 'J'. 'J' was a cheerleader, and so was her older sister, and though she had looked at me funny when I asked for one of her old cheerleading uniforms, she had agreed, though not before calling me a 'Damn fool' when I told my plan.

My plan? Oh yes, see I did not plan on going ghost hunting wearing a paper thin hospital gown. Nor did I plan on being caught without my phone. So my plan was simple, and if I do say so myself it is daring and one of the finest schemes ever hatched by man. The plan was simple enough: I would put on a cheerleading uniform, a red one, complete with sport's bra and bloomers. And let's not forget white shoes too. Style my hair in pigtails and then when the hospital had settled in for the night I would sneak out of my room and roam the halls looking for Nurse Mindy. I might even venture down to the hospitals more because that is said to the lair of the fable 'Nurse Spooky'.

Now where was I? Oh yes, the plan. You see 'J' and her sister dropped out the uniform and the required items earlier today. It being Halloween and all, the wonderful nurses and doctors wanted to do something special for us poor souls who would be spending the most hollow of nights as guests of Mississippi Medical Center. That something special included handing out buckets of candy.

I was quite flattered when they handed me a classic orange, plastic Jack O' Lantern candy bucket. You know the one with black triangle eyes and a grinning mouth. It is the universal symbol for Halloween and for the most cherished pastime of that holiday Trick or Treating. Mine was filled with bite size pieces of candy and a few king size candy bars.

In all honesty, the staff went out their way. I think my bucket held at least seventy or eighty pieces of good chocolate with a few king size candy bars. My cousin Dawn, who is also a nurse on this ward also decided to treat me to pizza. Two personal pan pizzas from the local Pizza Hut and enough soda to float a battleship, add in an order of cheese sticks and was in hog heaven.

I really mean that, try living off of hospital food for a few days. It is worse than the food they serve at Scout Camp. And that is saying something. At least they season the food there. The cooking staff of Mississippi Medical Center must have never heard of salt or pepper. And must only know how to boil, broil, steam, and bake the foods they are given. Then again I must have been spoiled.

My girlfriend Cerridwen Circe Whitethorn, a true Southern Belle in the finest tradition of the word, has spoiled me on such superb southern dishes as fried catfish, battered and fried till golden brown with a highly seasoned crust that would put any Michelin star restaurant to shame. Or crispy, fried chicken, soaked in buttermilk for hours and then floured in a seasoned flour and then fried up golden brown, a honey colored crust on the outside, and juicy, moist and tender chicken on the inside. The belle's of Kentucky can never hope to match their sisters in Mississippi when it comes to frying chicken.

Or shrimp! Fried to golden brown. A favorite of the gulf region. Wonderful when paired with a steak or fried by themselves or mixed with grits. And let not forget that most wonderful creole dish, Crayfish Etouffee. And last but not least the most decadent desserts possible, turtle cheesecake with ribbons of caramel and topped with chopped pieces of pecan or moist and rich chocolate cake, topped with chocolate icing. Or warm apple pie topped with a scoop of ice cream. Such food's I'd enjoyed on a daily basis before the onset of my illness.

But putting that aside, I need to make myself ready for tonight. The pizza has filled my tummy, and the shot I was just given is making me sleepy, no doubt I will soon drift off and for a spell visit that fable land of Nod. But until then, I must make myself read. And so with help from one of the nurses I walked toward the bathroom. A nice warm bath is made ready for me, I shave my face, shave my legs, and under my arms. I even try my best to trim the hair in my nether region. My goal is to pass as much as possible for a girl. The nurse tending to me does not question this.

And thankfully she does not question why one of my friends from my hometown of Benton would bring a cheerleading uniform complete with sports bra and panties. I guess she is just ready to go clock out and go home for the day. Because as soon as I've finished my shower, she puts me straight to bed. She dims the lights of my room and like that, I feel my eyelids starting to grow heavy. And soon I feel myself drifting off to the land of Nod.

But I do have one final thought before I drift off, is this what death feels like? A gentle stillness of the soul, as my breathing eases up and my eyelids start to close. And the world around me turns into shadows. Is death just falling asleep and entering into a dreamless sleep until we reawaken in this world again? That is the last thought I remember thinking before the Sandman, that sneaky old fellow sneaks into my room and throws his magical sand into my eyes.

End of Act I.