"Hey you, Maggie has put a movie on. Wanna watch?" My brother called to me from the doorway.
I nodded in agreement, there was no way I'd miss watching an interesting movie.
I got off the bed and ran after him to the living room, the movie had just begun so I was happy I wouldn't miss a lot of scenes.
We all got comfortable and sat in front of the TV in our small and clustered living room. It turned out that it was a horror/mystery themed movie that my siblings decided to watch that night. I didn't think there'd be a problem, until a particularly horrible scene came up and the next thing I knew was darkness.
I was 8 years old.
It wasn't the first time I was fainting, but it was the first time I fainted in my own home while watching a movie.
I don't know how long I was out but I woke up to hearing voices calling my name urging me to wake up. I could hear my mother scolding my siblings thoroughly for putting on such a movie in my presence.
The scolding stopped abruptly when she noticed I was conscious again, I gave her a scare.
I can't remember the scene that made me throw up and pass out, but it was troubling enough for me to throw up my dinner and then pass out.
"Mummy," I called softly.
"Yes?" She came closer to me on the bed.
"I saw you trying to wake me up when I wanted to follow him," I said without thinking.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" My mom had switched to our native tongue immediately (she does that when she's stressed and she was stressed that night).
"The white man said I should follow him, he was beside you," I wore a puzzled look on my face wondering why my mother refused to agree that she saw the man.
I didn't know what I saw was a vision. Before I could utter another word, my mother had whipped out her blessed oil and holy bible and rosary beads. She doused me with the blessed oil and stayed up all night praying for me, she made me stay up all night too maybe for fear that I may not wake up again.
How it started
I used to faint repeatedly when I was little, around the ages of 7, 8 and 9 years and it usually happened in the mornings while I was busy with an activity in school or at home.
On the first day I fainted, it was in front of a retailer's store where my sister had forcefully sent me to get her things. I was feeling dizzy and didn't want to go out but she pulled the big sister card on me and made me go out and while making the purchase, I blinked and when I came to, I found myself lying on the pavement with a bruised face.
It turns out I fell hard and hurt my face in the process. I stood up and went home and my siblings asked what happened and I narrated what went down but it really felt like I fell asleep and I had just woken up from a much needed sleep.
My mother was a bit worried and she thought I fell because of my poor eyesight and immediately she took me for my first eye test afterwards I got my very first eyeglasses.
That was the first of many blackouts.
It kept recurring and I began to visit the hospital frequently, no one knew what was wrong with me.
I didn't like the fact that I would pass out for no reason at all especially without warning signs so I began to pray in my mind whenever I felt suddenly dizzy.
I would repeat over and over again in my head.
"No more fainting again. I will not faint. I will not faint."
It was my mantra.
Since I clocked 10 years, I haven't passed out till this day, though dizziness may arise from time to time as a result of stress, it passes after a while and I am fine once more.
Till this day I still don't know why I used to frequently lose consciousness without any sign of terminal illness. Some speculations were made about my genotype, but I'm AA which confused everyone even more.
My Mom believes there was a battle beyond the physical over my life and I won because God is with me.
I believe her.
After the experience I had while watching that horror movie with my brother and sister, I have never liked watching horror movies till this day.
They mess with my mind and scare me.
This is my entry to the creative nonfiction prompt: TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE
- THE LIE:
I have never had any vision whenever I lost consciousness. It was always black, like I was asleep and I always felt like I woke up from a deep slumber.
I didn't see any white man standing beside my Mom, but I did pass out while watching the movie.
THANK YOU FOR READING!