Hi.

I have blond hair and blue eyes. I’m around 52 inches tall and I weigh about 80 pounds. I also just celebrated my 6th birthday. I also have incredibly thick lenses for my glasses. My teachers say I have an incredibly agile mind and that I can do things no one else can. I can probably find the derivative of a number before you can even read it. I also have an eidetic memory. I can remember the past like it was yesterday. As a matter of fact, I could be considered a child genius. You might say that I am set to succeed in life, set to accomplish much with my time on this Earth. Nobel Prizes, scholarships, and many awards are probably just waiting for me to claim them.

I also have AIDS.

And if that doesn’t sound like enough, I also have severe asthma accompanied with a muscular defect in my legs. Even the most accomplished doctor in the hospital has been stumped with my condition. The team of doctors helping me say that my T-Cell count is hovering around 90. The minimum count for a patient to be diagnosed with AIDS is 200. As you can clearly tell, I don’t have much time left. My life is encompassed by my wheelchair and the hospital bed.

My real name is Albert Jackson Oliver Wofolowitz the Third. Throughout my life, I’ve also been called many other names such as four-eyes and cripple. I’ve had paper wads, spit balls, and paper clips thrown at me. When most people see me, they see a defeated little boy who desperately sinks into his wheelchair, hoping to disappear in thin air. I can tell they feel pity for me, thinking that it’s just another disabled kid with no future. After all, I live in a hospital and my condition is worsening every day.

That is not true.

While I may not be the fittest or strongest kid out there, there’s something in me that is better than everyone else. At night, when I curl up for the next horrendous day, there’s something I do that allows me to push through this torturous life.

I dream.

When I’m in asleep, I am no longer a nerdy kid who is confined to his wheelchair, no matter how cool it looks or how expensive it is. No, I can be whoever I want, do whatever I want, and achieve whatever I want. Yesterday, I climbed Mount Everest, and for the first time managed to take in a breath of the fresh albeit chilly air without the aid of an inhaler. Two days ago, I was playing soccer on my favourite team, competing for the championship. I felt the wind blowing through my hair, my legs running out of gas, and my skin start to sweat profusely. I felt something that millions of kids feel every day, a feeling that I could run my worries away, a feeling that I was unstoppable. Nevertheless, while for countless others this is reality, it will never be for me.

Sometimes, I dream the simple dream. Some nights I spend countless hours learning how to get up from my chair of doom, while in others I manage to take a few baby steps. But on most nights, I am as free as a bird, with no seatbelts to hold me down and no wheels and gears to guide me in a forced direction. I can play basketball with the other kids, throw a baseball just as well as any other kid, and hit tennis balls in the air as high as any kid. When I dream, I am a kid with no physical constraints, no mental worries, and no social fears.

The doctor came today and told me that I have at best one week left. When my parents heard the news, their solemn faces became filled with even more grief, and they clutched their head in their heads, trying to hide their tears. Their baby boy was about to be taken away from them and there was nothing they could do about it. However, I’m extremely appreciative of the early notice. This means that I have 7 nights to do whatever I want and explore the rest of the world before I move on to the next.

I dream.

Night one: Today, I dreamed about bungee jumping from the Eifel Tower in Paris, France. It was an amazing experience. I was joined by a flock of pigeons on the way down, and for a brief flash I could almost feel the hearty chuckle of the wind as it gently set me on the ground.

Night two: Today, I dreamed about white river rafting down the Colorado River in Colorado, USA. I got drenched by torrents of churning water and almost impaled myself on a particularly jagged rock. However, with the adrenaline coursing through my body, I managed to make it through without a scratch. Boy, am I glad for that. My parents would have exploded if they found out I had a physical injury.

Night three: Today, I dreamed about running on the Great Wall of China. I ran and ran and ran, like there was no tomorrow, until my legs finally gave out. As I lay on the rough pavement and glanced up into the serene sky, I couldn’t but help and appreciate just how long this structure was. However, to me it seemed like I had just run the entire length.

Night four: Today, I dreamed about playing tennis on Centre Court at Wimbledon in England. I waved to the masses that had come to watch and support me. I managed to score an ace on my opening serve, and as the crowd applauded me on, I simply tipped my head as if to say, “This? This is nothing; you should see me when I’m trying.”

My duration here on this earth is almost over. However, in the past four nights, I’ve accomplished more than I would ever in my whole life. That being said, there are only a couple things left, so I’m going to do what I do best.

I dream.

Night five: Today, I dreamed about scaling the Giza Pyramid in Egypt. Even though it was 100+ degree weather, I had plenty of Gatorades strapped to my harness and completed the climb in record time. I couldn’t help but savour the feeling of walking on eon old bricks and the exuberance I felt of reaching the top.

Night six: Today, I dreamed about walking up the side of the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates, just like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. Every so often I would stop and gaze out at the landscape, arching my head back majestically like a lion. At the top, I let out a roar of exuberance and exultation, having completed a climb that no one else has had the privilege to do.

It’s my last evening here on this planet. So, tonight, I’m going to dream about what matters to me the most, what I have appreciated the most during my short time here. It is what has given me the determination and will to continue living.

Night seven: Today, I dreamed about having a picnic with my parents in Central Park in New York, USA. I dreamed of unwrapping three peanut butter sandwiches without any help and of walking the various paths with my mum and dad. I dreamed of flying a kite in the fields and of observing the clouds as they passed by, oblivious to the fact that we were carefully watching, basking in the glow of sunshine. I dreamed of having a spitting watermelon seeds contest and of having a potato sack race. I dreamed of gulping down sweet lemonade and of devouring my mum’s famous homemade brownies. Today, I dreamed the best the dream of all, which is of the bond that will never be broken between me and them. Today, I dreamed about family.

Goodbye world. Sweet dreams. I’m sure I’ll see you all again soon.
I so desperately want to whisper those words while I seem to be slipping away from this body. As my parents snore lightly next to me, unaware of the fact that I am indeed passing on, I feel a tear drop from my eye. I feel like my heart is tearing itself from my being, trying to receive one last word of comfort before departing. As I am now encountering a feeling of what has to be death, I turn back to my steadfast companion, a thing that has always stood firm behind me, providing support in every possible manner.

I dream.