Dream dust and racing cars

Ábel was terribly agitated while he was in the hospital one morning. The dreadful day of his surgery had arrived. Ábel sat next to his mother, waiting for the scheduled operation. Suddenly, he started marching through the children’s ward and nothing seemed to help him calm down. Even Ábel’s mother was unsuccessful as she was trying to distract her son. Redirecting his attention had worked wonderfully many times before, but that day everything was different. Ábel did not even care about the captivating book he had been reading enthusiastically for several days. Not even his mobile phone game seemed to entertain Ábel. The burden of fear was too heavy for Ábel and one question was constantly running through his mind: “What is going to happen to me now?”

That was exactly what the waiting felt like when Dr. Sztracsatella reached the hospital room. She had a strong feeling that somebody in there was very afraid. Therefore, she started talking gently to Ábel and mentioned that she had never heard of a teenager being afraid of a little bit of sleep. That was precisely what was going to happen to Ábel too. The boy would go through anaesthesia, namely induced sleep during the surgery. “The reason for this is so that you don’t feel anything” – told him Dr. Sztracsatella, adding that she will take care of wonderful dreams. Dr. Sztracsatella asked Ábel what kind of dream she should enchant just for him. They agreed together on an exciting story about Ábel’s favourite cars. The conversation made everything brighter and Ábel finally started smiling. It was the very first smile that Ábel’s mother saw on his face since he had entered the hospital that day.

Later on, they started talking about what kind of sedative Ábel would get from the nurse. The boy thought that it was going to be some strong schnapps, but Dr. Sztracsatella whispered to him that it was actually dream dust. The nurse then arrived, bringing a pill filled with magical dream dust. Ábel swallowed it very enthusiastically, because he was already looking forward to his dream story. After a short while, the brave boy fell asleep. When the surgery ended, Dr. Sztracsatella was right there waiting for Ábel. She was very curious to hear what had happened in the dream. Ábel was very exuberant and told her in detail about the exciting adventure of his favourite cars racing furiously through the streets. Dr. Sztracsatella listened very carefully and rejoiced with Ábel about his fantastic dream. Sztracsatella left the hospital feeling delighted that the magic had worked once again.

*Story from: www.pirosorr.hu