by Terry Mckee

Created on: May 01, 2008

Sleep Talking

Last night I dreamt one quadrant of my teeth fell out, the lower right. I sat up in bed, holding the displaced teeth, mostly molars, and stared at them in disbelief. Fearing that I couldn't stop the rest from falling out, I woke you. Peering into my mouth, you saw the holes, sans blood, in my vacant gums. You sighed, shook your head, and kindly pointed out that there were two small splinters of teeth remaining.

"A dentist should remove them, you might cut yourself on them," you offered.

"Gee, do you think?" Fingering the little gems, I noticed how yellowed they were.

You got out of bed un-perturbed; grateful it wasn't your teeth. "I'm going to get some cookies and milk. Do you want anything?"

"Right, like I can eat."

"You could gum the cookies after they soak up some milk." You called and padded down the steps.

Calm down, calm down, you're getting upset over nothing, I mentally chided myself. Think of something good, there must be some good or some hidden message in this nightmare. All is not lost; they are only teeth, after all. I fingered the gems, wondering what to do with them.

I could put them under my pillow tonight and when I wake tomorrow morning, new ones will be firmly rooted in my mouth. Yes, that's it! They're baby teeth, which will be replaced with strong, sturdier ones that will last a lifetime. I might even make some money out of the deal. Hey, this isn't so bad, I think, new teeth and money until I remember that the tooth fairy is just that - a fairy, totally not real! A fake fairy is silly I decide, better to go to actual person like a dentist.

Me being me, I wondered if a dentist is truly the right person to help me. What if the teeth are just a symptom of a larger problem that I'm not seeing? My God, are my eyes next? Will they pop out from their sockets tomorrow night? Perhaps I shouldn't sleep, if I don't sleep then I can't dream, if I don't dream, they can't fall out. I'm briefly reassured by this reasoning until I realize the fatal flaw - none of this is logical. It's a dream and dreams are fantasies, so there's no place for logic in my dream, just as there's no place for these loose teeth in my mouth anymore.

As you climbed back into bed, cookie crumbs in your beard, you asked, "Are you over it yet?" I didn't hear you because my ears went next.

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