A Rude Awakening

The Awakening

Suddenly, Mike woke up to alarms, televisions, rattling trolleys, ringing phones and conversations. He was looking at a white ceiling, with the sterile scent he disliked so much permeating the air. He turned his head to see a woman seated with her eyes closed. When he began to move, she opened her eyes. She screamed for the doctor as she hugged him, calling out his name. Amid her screaming, she said

"I cannot wait to tell the kids. We have missed you, Mike."

It felt like a dream.

"No no no... It's not possible! It can't have been a dream!" Mike shouted

Leaving everyone around stunned and confused.

Mike started sobbing as he realized it was all a dream. His wife and the nurses around thought it might not have been something serious since he just woke up from a coma. Hours passed; Hours turned to days; Days turned to weeks; Weeks turned to months. All the while, Mike wasn't ready to give up the whole life he had with Abby. 

He learnt he actually went on a business trip and his plane crashed in the Amazon, but not before sending out an SOS signal. He was the only survivor, but he was found unconscious and fell into a coma. He was in a coma for 9 months, but in his 'dream', it was a whole lifetime. He tried telling people what he experienced, but they all laughed and called him crazy.

His obsession with his 'dream' came at a heavy cost. It cost him his relationship with his friends and family. He became closed off to his wife and children, who tried tirelessly to make him become the man he once was. Eventually and reluctantly, they allowed him to fly back into the Amazon to prove the tribe existed, or to prove it was all just in his dream. Before he went on his trip, his wife called him and their kids together for a meeting.

Wife: "Darling, I don't know why you're obsessing over this dream so much, but you need to understand that we need you here."

Kid 1: "Yes dad, mum's right. You were gone for 9 months, and when you came back to us, you made us wish you were still in a coma. Somehow, we were closer to you while in a coma, than after you woke up."

Those words struck Mike deeply, and he was saddened. But he wasn't ready to give up his search.

Mike: "I know I let you all down, but I need to do this."

Kid 2: "Dad, we didn't want to do this, but you've left me no choice. You've gotta choose. It's either us, or your wild obsession."

Kid 3: "You can't have both, dad. We love you, but we don't have to competefor your love, with a dream you had while in a coma."