A Thousand Points Of Fire

it's hard to see but the red marks that look like cat scratches are the Burns left by the hot glass hitting my skin

I am so proud of myself. For the last couple of months I've been able to sneak in 30 minutes to an hour of reading every night before I turn the light off and tumble into sleep. Sadly however, I usually don't get to this behavior till about 1030 or 11 PM and usually this is not a problem. I just secure everything in the apartment, make sure I all supplies I mean at my bedside and sidle up next to my bed enroll in, get situated on the covers turn on the overhead light (if not on already) and then delve into my current reading challenge usually a novel.

Last night was really no different. I have been trying to get naked and into bed by 10 o'clock so I can read a good hour or so. By the time I got done with my evening texting it was almost 11 PM. Still, I knew I could read till late if I chose. The only I had the morning was home health person, Annette, coming in from our program. I turned over, under the covers raise the bottom portion of the bed then raise the top portion to a semi-seated position and cracked my book. Currently reading another medical mystery. I'm a sucker for the Robin Cook type of writer. Anyway, I was just into my first chapter for the evening when all of a sudden the lamp above my head explode! I was in shock, I couldn't believe it, I felt the shards of glass rain down upon me. The glass itself terrified me but I was not ready for what immediately followed it seemed the upper part of my body was covered with 1000 points of burning light. I bought these light bulbs across the street from the True Value store. I'm not sure how much I trust their merchandise. Lightbulbs are cheap however and that's why several on. I thought the burned hot, I thought they would just burn out quickly, never a zillion years that I believe the lightbulb would explode over my head and shower me with fire.

The pain was short-lived thank goodness, I almost panicked, now I just had to figure out how I was going to get the glass out of my bed. The clock now read 11:45 PM. I thought about calling my neighbor Billie from across the hall. But the hour so late I didn't feel comfortable resting the lady up. I then thought about calling the fire department and just laying in my bed until they got there and they could sweep the glass away from my pillow and bedding. I found it just took a deep breath and figured I could do this myself. I started trying to brush the glass fragments away from my body, they were under my shoulder neck and everything, I quickly realized I needed to be careful as I lacerated one of my fingers. Even in the darkness illuminated only by outside light in my cell phone clock I can see the dark spots of the blood on my sheets, my DEAD POOL Marvel comics sheets. I eventually was able to move enough class out-of-the-way to transfer into my chair and then using my sticks went over my sheets as much as I could throw in the class on the carpet under the bed.

About 45 minutes later I felt comfortable enough to roll back into bed. I set the clock for 6 AM brushed a few shards that escaped the general glass cleaning. I surprised myself when I woke up this morning a kind of thought I was going to be awake all night afraid of turning a lacerated myself with errant shards. I didn't and I got pretty good night sleep… I was surprised!