Wetting The Bed
The Hesitation | Deckard Enright | Drawing
Wetting The Bed by Eli Toure
As I turned over to get in a less uncomfortable position in my antiquated sleeping bag with flakes of crusty plastic coming off, I felt a tingling feeling slide down my thigh. I was too fatigued to think about the feeling at first. I shuffled to the other side, for what felt like the millionth time, during this dry and frigid night. Another tingling sensation slithered down my leg. I sprung out of my sleep in horror and confusion. I trembled out of the sleeping bag like a worm on hot concrete desperate to get to some moist soil. Dozens of cold snakes slithered down my legs as I cried out in my mind: Why does this have to happen now?!
Once out of the back, a chilly breeze flew by my whole lower body. I crinkled my body into a ball, wishing I wasn’t in this icebox basement. My sleeping bag is wet, my pajama pants are drenched in pee, and, of course, the bottom of my T-shirt is dripping with pee. WET! WET! WET! Come on! I knew I shouldn’t have eaten all that ice cream and drank all of that Coke. I thought the doctor's pill would work. Now, all my things are wet and I have to clean all this up before the boys wake up. I wish Alex wasn’t such a light sleeper, unlike the other four. I thought as I took a slow step forward to lift myself slowly. You’re like nightcrawler Eli. You can do this. All I have to do is put the foul-smelling sleeping bag back into the backpack and seal it. As I opened up from my little ball another breeze swiftly flew past me, almost as if the breeze did it just to see my awful wrinkly face as I squirmed. I continued to crawl towards the sleeping bag and my backpack sitting right next to it as I drowned in pain. Not real physical pain, but utterly awful inner pain.
I finally reached the side of my sleeping bag with my backpack, feeling a sense of achievement, but also regretful pain -- just like a gold medalist at the end of a marathon. I quickly took out my belongings from inside the bag and shoved the sleeping bag in. I took a whiff of the intoxicating effluvium the sleeping bag radiated. I held my head high and far away, trying to hold my breath as I closed Pandora's box. Okay, now that this is done I can go to the bathroom and clean myself up. Where is it? I thought as I squinted my eyes looking for a white door. There it is! I thought in relief.
I army-crawled over towards the bathroom, trying not to touch someone. I slowly took steps, trying to pay attention to each one by looking where I put my hands.
“Mmmhhhhh,” Alex groaned in his sleep.
Ahhhhhh! Please don’t wake up. I thought to myself as I prayed he didn’t wake up. I tried to push the bad thoughts away and inched my last few steps towards the massive white door, as I left a trail of a vile stench behind me. Now that I’ve passed everyone, I can finally get this nastiness off of me. My hand reached for the doorknob as I lifted myself to get ready to go through what felt like the doorways to Heaven.
My little arm slowly opened the door to a luminosity that made my body shiver in exultation. As I crawled into the bathroom, I quickly closed the door behind me. I took off all my clothes to take a shower. The sticky pee rapidly dried up into a crusty layer over my skin, leaving lizard skin over my actual skin. I ran into the shower, cringing again, but also grateful that I had a welcoming showing to take into custody. A tear rolled down my cheek as I thought: Thank you God for providing this warm comforting shower for me. I started to cry as I got into the heartwarming shower. The steaming shower’s warmth replicated my feeling of appreciation in my heart. As I whipped off the tears on my face, I realized the shower was getting me wet too. An immense smile lengthened on my face, making me feel as if I couldn’t fill up my face with all the joy I held.
The joy continued to heal my pain from the regret I had as I got ready again and snuck back out into the basement where everyone slept except for Roberto, the friend with the biggest heart and smiles.
“What were you doing?” Roberto asked in a groggy voice.
“I just took a shower because I woke up early and wanted to pass some time before you guys woke up,” I answered in a lie because I had not told anyone besides my family that I wet the bed, and I wanted it to stay that way.
As the morning went on, everyone woke up and we had a good time at breakfast. We played a little as we waited to get picked up by my parents. We each got picked up one by one until it was just Alex and me left. Ring, ring went the doorbell. I went to get my bag that had a deadly stench. I tried to stay away from my friend and his family as I said goodbye and thanked my friend for a fun time. I will never forget that night, and I knew that I would never have a sleepover again, not feeling sad about it.