Bemused thoughts of the ill

Have you ever been ill for three days or more? Have you ever lain in the same bed for hours and hours? What do you think about? I need suggestions. :)

Yep, it's been a rough week. I've been sick on and off--mostly on--and am getting pretty tired of it. March in Nigeria is the hottest month (that I'm aware of), and it's been pretty unbearable recently. Our living room catches the morning sun directly and doesn't cool down until late evening. And there's no cross-breeze. But our "bedroom," where we have the mattress on the floor, is not much cooler. At least the living room has our only working fan protruding from the ceiling. I've spent a lot of time looking at that fan, listening to it squeak and whine. Do fans ever fall on top of people?

I know other people are sicker than I. My grandma died of breast cancer the day before I turned five, and I know she must have endured quite a lot, especially there toward the end. But I don't remember it. I know there are patients even at our own hospital who are in their death throes, or who are suffering from cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, meningitis, etc., etc. I shouldn't be complaining. Then again, to quote our family's favourite movie, "...if you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything" (The Princess Bride).

What do I think about? The way the cat attacks my fingers. First she licks them and then bites them, and when I try to move my hand away, she comes at it with teeth and claws. I think about the way ice melts, spreading out across the surface of a drink so that you drink only water if you're careful how you sip. I think about the holes in our ceiling and what caused them. Some are round, the size of a silver dollar. Others are just like pinpricks. Were they caused by bugs? Rodents? I think about the calls to prayer I can hear from our front room. It sure seems like they take place more than five times a day, but it's so easy to lose track when one's sick. God is great. Yep. I think about food... and then I immediately stop thinking about food.

And finally, I think about rain. I imagine it beating the roof above me, drumming down, maybe even with a bit of hail. I can almost smell the wet earth and feel the humidity rise, enjoy the cool breeze dancing through the open windows.

And I wonder if our roof leaks.