By Rod Hamon
Steven opened his eyes, sat upright in bed, reached across, took a notepad from the drawer, and scrawled a few words.
Have to remember it while it’s still fresh in my mind. He wrote the words, Dr W Rosen, and then the word Sabium.
Damn it, what was that last word. Sabium Serif…come on think, it’s important, Serif… He sighed. “Probably never remember it now.”
____
At breakfast, Steven was so absorbed in his thoughts he heard little of his wife’s conversation. Brenda talked about nothing else but horses.
When she paused to sip her coffee Steven cut in. “I had the strangest dream last night, Bren.”
“You know how I hate it when people want to tell me their dreams,” she snapped. “By the way, did I tell you about my new saddle?”
“But Brenda, this wasn’t any normal dream: it was so real, like it really happened.”
“But it was still just a dream,” she mumbled, her mouth full of toast.
“I’m telling you….”
“Call it what you like, Steve, but a dream’s a dream, that’s all it is.”
“But it was the most vivid dream I’ve ever had. I can still see that newspaper headline, Cure for Cancer At Last. I wrote the details down when I woke up. The person who made the discovery was a Dr W Rosen.”
Brenda stared vacantly out the window then got up. “Anyway it’s late, got to go.”
Steven remained immersed in his thoughts. He recalled how the newspaper had said that just a small quantity of this herb stopped cancer immediately. Just wish I could remember the full name of that plant.
Over the next few days Steven, spend hours poring over the Internet.
____
Brenda raised the subject again a few nights later. “How’s the miracle cure going? Any sign of the mysterious Dr…?”
Steven ignored the sarcasm. “I’ve been trying to find out if there really is a Dr W Rosen.”
“And?” she replied.
“I can find only two people with the name Rosen and the initial W: an elderly man and a prominent lawyer.”
“Said it was a waste of time, didn’t I?”
Steven continued, “It seems that herbs with names starting with the word Sabium grow mainly in Bolivia.”
“You’re serious about this stupid dream aren’t you?” Brenda replied.
____
Steven’s chest pains that started as a mild irritation had become worse. He called on his doctor and a few days later, received the bad news.
The doctor peered over his glasses. “The survival rate for this type of cancer is good provided you undergo immediate treatment.”
Steven thought it best not to tell Brenda just yet; he had something else to tell her first.
“You’re going to Bolivia just because of a crazy dream? You’re mad. I don’t even know where Bolivia is!”
“Nor do I!” Steven replied.
Brenda shook her head and walked off.
____
Steven’s hours spent trawling the Internet had at last paid off. He discovered that an expert on various tropical plants including the Sabium variety was working from the La Paz University in Bolivia. He contacted her claiming to be a journalist. The scientist, Wendy Heller, replied saying she’d be pleased to see him.
____
He phoned Wendy on arrival in Bolivia saying he’d call on her that day.
The University of La Paz was large and it took him some time to find Wendy’s laboratory. Among benches, containing different plants sat a petite woman in her late twenties.
She looked up at Steven. “You must be the journalist,” she said. ”I must say I’m puzzled that my work should be of interest to the press?”
“On the contrary… Miss Heller, people are very interested in biological science. May I ask how long you’ve been working in this field?”
____
After ten minutes of talk, Steven decided it was time to be more direct and took a notepad from his wallet. In it, he’d written the names of various plants.
“A scientist I interviewed recently mentioned that you might be researching some of these plants. I’m afraid I didn’t get the full name of this one,” he said, pointing to the word Sabium...”
She looked at the notepad. “There’re probably thousands of plants with names that start with Sabium. Can’t help you I’m afraid.”
Steven was disheartened, as his probing had yielded nothing.
____
The flight home was depressing. Brenda met him at the airport but left it until dinner to bring up the subject.
Steven frowned, “Okay, so you were right!”
She smiled.
“Bolivia was nice, but the trip a failure. Probably never live this down will I?"
“I’ll make sure you don’t!” she said.
____
Steven’s health deteriorated rapidly. Within three months, he was confined to bed hardly able to raise his head.
____
Brenda stood looking down at the frail figure of her dying brother. “Are you awake, Steve?”
“What’s that,” he mumbled.
Brenda held a newspaper. “You’d better take a look at this, Steve.”
“What is it Brenda?”
She began reading, Cure for Cancer. South American Scientist, Wendy Heller is author of a research paper appearing in journal Nature where she announces her discovery of a prevention and cure for all cancers. Scientists who have studied her research claim it the greatest discovery of the century.
Steven opened his eyes. “But…”
Brenda interrupted, “I haven’t read the last bit yet.”
She continued, this was a big week for Wendy; she also married the wealthy lawyer, Walter Rosen, yesterday.
Steven raised himself up and with a croaky voice cried, “So… she became Doctor W. Rosen, just like in my dream!”
“Something else,” said Brenda, “a parcel came for you this morning.”
“Open it up,” He croaked.
Inside attached to a small box was a note.
Dear Steven, I hope I haven’t left it too late to send you this. It contains an extract from the plant ‘Sabium Seriferbia.’
I could see you weren’t a journalist when you visited me and guessed you were looking for a cancer cure for yourself.
I couldn’t tell you then because it would’ve my research. Please forgive me for that. Take some of the herb straight away; it will cure you.
Someday you must explain how you knew I was working on a cure using this plant.
Hope you’re well soon –
Wendy.
____
Three weeks later Wendy received a reply thanking her. It concluded by saying,
Must go now, must be at the squash courts in five minutes.
Regards, Steven.
To date I have had 16 short stories published. This month my non-fiction 4 page article dealing with Dark Matter was published in the international magazine Nexus.
