Sleepless Nights and Sick Days
Life in a boarding school
My mind wandered thoughts as I lay in bed. Memories of my grandma, teachers, and friends swirled together with the faces of my fellow boarders. I stared at the tiled roof, the cool breeze from the nearby sea beach wafting through the dormitory. My friends were fast asleep, some snoring softly. But I remained wide awake, my mind racing.
My stomach rumbled with hunger, and I remembered the coins my father had handed me. Only two Rupees left — enough to get eight milk bottles at a quarter each. I savoured the thought of vanilla and chocolate flavours and planned to switch between them. But when should I enjoy my treat? Morning or afternoon? After weighing my options, I picked the afternoon as the perfect time for my milk break on my way back from school.
Eventually, my eyelids grew heavy, and I drifted off to sleep. I touched my pillow, feeling the rosary underneath, and removed my chain with Mother Mary’s medal, leaving it on the bedside table. I tightened my sarong and covered myself from head to toe with the white sheet.
The next thing I knew, the bell was ringing, and it was already five-thirty in the morning. I had slept through the night and quickly knelt by the bedside, facing the large cross on the left. The supervisor only stopped ringing the bell when the last boy got up from his bed, and I could hear boys shouting to their mates to wake up. I reached for the rosary under my pillow and put the chain around my neck.
“Thank you, God, for this new day.
Thank you for rest and shelter, health, and food.
Thank you for my carers.
Thank you for the challenges and for the opportunities to learn.
May this day be filled with love.
And may I know that you are always near.
Amen.”
As I recited my morning prayer, I felt grateful for another day in school and boarding. But as the day wore on, I began to feel unwell. I skipped the milk bar. By the time I reached the boarding, I was feverish and lifeless, with tremors in my tummy. I was put away in the sick bay, where I half-slept, half-awake, exhausted and wanted to vomit.
Bertram woke me with a food tray, but I had no appetite. The arctic cold in my bones was coupled with a hot fever, and I wished for a thousand blankets to cover myself and throw them off. I turned the other way and slept, hoping to feel better in the morning.
Nimal Emmanuel Donald? Shirly Silva, Edward Sunil Fernando, Bertram Noel Perera, Richard Ratnayake, Daya Pieris
Llewlyn Moraes, Vernon, Duke Fernando, Mervyn Nimal Dias and Denzil Jayasinghe — Seated or bent downwards
Desmond, Victor Emmanuel, Francis Paul, Augustine De Silva and Nihal De Saram
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