Pain

The corridor was white, pristine and spotless. As if inside another world, the cacophony of sounds from the city seemed to have been cut off in this place, while the whiteness of the place seemed almost too white, where the sunlight reflected off, it left burning white spots in my eyesight.

I directed my attention elsewhere. The room I was in, it was white too. I wriggled around on the chair to get a better view of the city in the window. Everything outside the window seemed so colourful , compared to this room. Everything outside seemed so much more natural, while the room seemed artificial and stuffy and oddly dreary too. Moving again, I accidentally knocked my hand into the movable metal counter beside the chair, I had not noticed it before. There were scalpels, pliers and a few odd looking knives. Scrutinising these tools, I could not put my finger on why they seemed so familiar.

The door closed with an audible click. I swiveled around, surprised, only to stare at a middle-aged man in front of the door.

“Hello son, how're we doing today?” the heavy-set man said jovially as he adjusted his collar and straightened out his pressed shirt. Then he went on to push his horn-rimmed spectacles up the bridge of his broad nose, stopping beside me for awhile, then moving on. I replied with a terse “Fine,”. He was at the opposite counter, fiddling with some bottles and tools. Without looking at me, he said, “Well, I'm glad you're fine. Give me a few minutes while I prepare. Judy's not here today,” he paused and turned around to look at me before continuing, “Oh,right. You don't know her, she's my assistant. Well, she took medical leave today, leaving poor old me to fend for myself. Sad, ain't it?” he turned back and moved on to put on white plastic gloves, pulling them until they were taut against his skin. He was smiling with his teeth showing. His teeth caught my eyes, they were shining white, almost flawless.

Then all of a sudden, prickly pain erupted across my mouth when I tried to open my mouth wider to talk. Instinctively, I tried to cover my mouth when I discovered that I had been strapped into the chair without my knowledge. I was perplexed, when did I get strapped in? Noticing this, the man walked towards me. He said, “ Well, let's begin before it hurts even more.” I had no idea whatsoever of what he was talking about. Then my eyes noticed the screwdriver-looking object beside him. Seeing that, I finally realised why I had found the tools on the table so familiar before.

This was where they called 'the dentist's'. An unprovoked sense of doom overwhelmed my entire being. The stories my friends told me of this place had been the source of my nightmares so many nights before, and now it was back to haunt me!

“This is all for your own good, son. Don't worry, it'll all be over soon.” the dentist said soothingly. I did not believe him, all the stories my friends told, they could not have been lying! He must be hiding something from me! The day before when I told my mother that my mouth was hurting, she only said that she would bring me to someplace to get rid of the pain. I must have done something to make her so angry, but what have I done?

Still struggling to get out of the chair, I yelled and screamed “HELP!SOMEONE HELP ME!”. The dentist simply smiled indulgently at me. My fears were confirmed; the stories were real, he was going to drill into my mouth and use my insides for his own wicked ends! Realising this, I tried to cover my mouth but I was restricted by the straps. I had since grown tired of screaming and yelling. The pain in my mouth had escalated to a point where it was unbearable. I remembered more of the stories – the dentist would first make the pain go away, then he would induce the most excruciating pain known to man, and then I would die.

Two burly nurses came in, they seemed to be his henchmen. By then, I was delirious with sick nervousness and as I saw the dentist advancing towards me with a weirdly-shaped object, something seemed to have snapped inside me. I surrendered.

He inserted the object into my mouth, which kept my mouth from closing properly. My teeth were exposed. I could hardly move any part of my body now. I felt a tiny pinprick of pain at the side of my mouth. Then, in my peripheral vision, I saw an empty syringe leaving my sight. The dentist's face came back into my sight, I realised that he was smiling.

“Come on now, let's get this over with. It's only an ant bite, that's all.”the dentist said in a soft voice. He had in his hands a set of silver pliers and small mirror. He moved the mirror inside my mouth for a few rounds, as if searching for something. The nurses' vaunted strength kept my legs immobile, I could not escape. Resigned to my fate, I felt my body going limp. The nurses kept their grip on me, albeit not as tight. Everything slid in and out of focus, soon, all I could feel was a throbbing headache. It was as if I was watching the scene unfolding before me from a distance away, detached from it all.

The dentist seemed to have found what he was searching for. He reached in the pliers into my mouth and caught onto something. He exerted force and pulled. The faint pain in my mouth seemed to have disappeared in an instant, only to be replaced by a light throbbing in my gum. Then, I blacked out.

After what seemed like only seconds, I opened my eyes once more, to the blinding brightness of the sun rays reflecting off the frame of the window. Instinctively, I covered my eyes. I turned the chair around and faced the room. I was just about to get up from the chair when I realised something. I could move my arms! I was not dead! Cheered by this revelation, I hugged myself and jumped off the chair. I landed on the balls of my feet, unstable.

A pair of strong hands grabbed hold of me from behind. An oddly familiar voice rang out, “Hey hey, careful now son.” A sense of painful familiarity linked the voice to a person in my recent memories. The dentist! He had not killed me yet, why? Immediately I broke away and kept my distance from him, adopting a mock-fighting stance. The dentist chuckled lightly just as my mother came in the door. Seeing her, I ran to her and hugged her tightly.

“How was my son, doctor?”My mother's genteel voice asked. “Oh, he's a feisty one. He sure struggled a lot, ma'am,” the dentist replied goodnaturedly. “Don't worry about your tooth, it'll grow back in a few weeks time. Oh, before I forget, this is for you, son.” The dentist went to his table and passed me a small bottle. “This here, is your first tooth. Keep it well, son.”

I held the bottle to the light for inspection. In it, was my 'first tooth'. It looked awfully small, compared to the dentist's. “You'll grow, and if you take good care of your teeth, you'll have nice teeth, just like me!”the dentist flashed a brilliant smile at me. His smile was infectious and soon, I forgot my recent worries, and smiled back.

Hand in hand, my mother and I left the dentist's office. I had made up my mind to tell the others of their folly. The dentist's was not a bad place at all! They had caused me so much pain by telling me those horror stories, caused me so much sleepless, tear-filled nights. We were greeted by the cheerful chirping of spring birds and bustling city life, as my mother and I exited the dentist's clinic.