John Edward Cooper’s Notes
Memories from bed
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Early Days Early 1950’s 1. I slept alone[1] in a narrow room with a large window beyond the foot of the bed. And when I lay there, both ears lay flat on the pillow! When I tried to re-create this memory, I failed: both ears just wouldn’t touch a flat pillow simultaneously. The memory is therefore somewhat defective. Perhaps it was a well fluffed-up pillow that both ears touched. [1] I slept alone: Compare Religious matters: “When our Steven and I were in our bedroom…”.2. Once, I had earache, and when I awoke, there was a large greenish oblong lump supported by a strand from my ear. The lump, according to this memory—which, again, must be defective—was about three inches long! I can’t remember which ear was involved.3. I was frightened in the dark of night in that room; the street lamps caused two great spots of light to appear on either side of the window through the curtains, and I would hide from those terrifying lights with the bedclothes covering my nose. When cars came into Fairfield Drive, filaments of light would extend from the two spots, and I dreaded with great fear the time when those spots would extend till they touched. Some disaster would overtake me, I felt, if this should happen. Time and again, when cars came down the drive, I trembled in terror, my eyes transfixed on those lights; and time and again I escaped doom as the lights failed to touch. 4. But once, with a motion I could almost feel (or even hear), accompanied by the roar of a car engine, the filaments, much brighter than usual, rather than just drift across the window, fairly launched forth on their journey across the top of the curtains; they didn’t stop short, but ploughed on till they fused together in one great bar of light. And, oh! the horror, the heart-pounding fear that I felt! |
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