Gregory,
so I pretended to be asleep every time anyone came into the
room, in order to escape my destiny, until at last some one
stood by my bedside so long that I became cramped and had to
pretend to wake up. Then I was given the medicine, and found to
my surprise that it was delicious and tasted of oranges. I felt
that there had been a mistake somewhere, but my head sat a
little heavily on my shoulders, and I would not trouble to fix
the responsibility. This time I fell asleep in earnest, and woke
in the middle of the night to find my brother standing by my
bed, making noises with his mouth. I thought that he had gone
mad, and would kill me perhaps, but after a time he went back to
bed saying all the bad words he knew. The excitement had made me
wide awake, and I tossed about thinking of the cracked ceiling
above my head. The room was quite dark, and I could see nothing,
so that it might be bulging over me without my knowing it. I
stood up in bed and stretched up my arm, but I could not reach
the ceiling; yet when I lay down again I felt as though it had
sunk so far, that it was touching my hair, and I found it
difficult to breathe in such a small space. I was afraid to move
for fear of bringing it down upon me, and in a short while the
pressure upon my body became unbearable, and I shrieked out for
help. Some one came in and lit the gas, and found me looking
very foolish and my brother delirious. I fell asleep almost
immediately, but was conscious through my dreams that the gas
was still alight and that they were watching by my brother's
bedside.
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