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A teenage girl talks to her mother about a humiliating dream she just had.
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In the middle of the night, the quiet home was suddenly filled with the sounds of muffled cries and flailing limbs beneath covers. The cries turned into breathy gasps as Nadia bolted upright and threw off her covers. She wouldn't be falling back asleep anytime soon.
She was still panting nervously as she sat at the table, slowly drinking a glass of cold water and trying to calm down.
Her mother took a seat next to her.
"I had a nightmare," Nadia explained.
"I know. I heard you. Was it about the exams?"
"How'd you know?"
"All you've been doing lately is studying for them, and working on your papers. I'm sure they're on top of everything in your mind right now."
"Yeah," Nadia answered, and then started a sentence that trailed off. She was surprised by her mother's understanding, but her mind was mostly occupied by the dream. It played back to her over and over.
"I'm sure you'll do all right," her mother said gently. "You've been doing well this year, and I know you're putting in a lot of effort."
Nadia began to describe the nightmare, not really hearing her mother's words of encouragement. "I was giving my history presentation. You know, reading my final paper in front of the whole class. I was so scared.
"I felt something, like a tickly tingly little thing, but I didn't pay attention. I knew I had to read everything perfectly, and have my voice and body language just right.
"I kept feeling it, though, and I noticed people were laughing. My paper's not funny, you know, so they must've been laughing 'cause I was doing something wrong. They were laughing, my body was tingling, and I just had to stop what I was doing and look down.
"I was leaking. Nothing was stopping it, and everybody could see it. I can still see it in my head. I wanted to leave the room and clean up. I wanted to run away. I couldn't, though. I kept standing there looking like an idiot while pee ran down my legs and got all over the floor.
"I remembered I was supposed to use a toilet before class started, but I forgot, and that's why I was leaking. The teacher asked me why I didn't use the toilet, and I couldn't answer. I couldn't talk at all. He said I needed to leave, and not come back. I couldn't graduate 'til I completed toilet training."
"Don't worry about it," her mother said. "There's no such thing. Not since the old days."
"I know that. It was just a stupid dream. It was so real, though. I really truly believed my whole year was ruined 'cause I couldn't hold my pee inside. It was awful."
When Nadia's mother read her daughter's indicator, her tone shifted from compassionate to critical. "Maybe you wouldn't have dreams like that if you didn't drink so much before bed."
Nadia blushed and gave the indicator a brief glance. "I'll be good 'til morning."
Her mother gave her a stern look.
"Fine, I'll take care of it now," Nadia said reluctantly.
On the way to the bathroom, her mother called out to her. "Be sure you get full powder coverage. The new dispenser doesn't work as good as the manual one."
Nadia let out an annoyed huff. "I'm 18 years old. I know how to change my diaper."