When I Was Sleeping

Created: 8-15-05

WHEN I WAS SLEEPING

Lightning flashed at a distance, followed by a rumbling thunder. Rain soon came in, showering itself down onto the buildings of the entire Middleton Town.

Kim opened her eyes slowly at the sound of slow beeping. The first thing that registered through her mind was her whereabouts. She tried to stretch her lazy bones but realized that there was no room for her to move. Everywhere she touched was cold and hard. Her surroundings were rather misty and the only thing she saw was the pale ceiling above her. She reached up to feel the air only to be barred by the icy touch of glass. She began to panic. Where was she? Why was she trapped like this? Why was everything she touched so cold? Was she captured? Kidnapped? Buried alive? Or worse…?

“Good morning, Mrs. Stoppable. Had a nice sleep?”

At the sound of the familiar robotic greeting, Kim calmed down almost immediately. It was when she finally realized that she was sleeping in an oxygen pod and not in a glass coffin she thought she was in. She heaved a sigh of relief and said in a raspy voice, “Yes, RX-25. I had a nice sleep. You can open for me now.”

The glass lid opened with a loud hiss, emitting huge wisps of mists in the process. Kim coughed as she slowly let herself up. She rubbed her throat painfully. How long has she slept? It seemed as if she hadn’t been using her voice for a very, very long time. It felt as if she was talking with sawdust in her throat. The first thing she wanted to do was to have a tall glass of ice cold water.

Kim almost tumbled out of the pod as she tried to get up. Seems like her body was still not ready to wake up yet. That was when she noticed that there were wires and tubes all over her body. She just sat there, surprised as she stared absentmindedly at those red, blue and black wires and tubes stuck on every inch of her body possible. Where did these come from? She didn’t being sick of anything. Why were these tubes on her?

As she tried to figure out what was going on, her eyes laid upon a picture frame on a desk beside her pod. It was the wedding picture of her and Ron at Middleton Chapel. She was wearing a bridal gown of snowy white and Ron an equally white wedding tux, with Rufus in his left pocket holding a rose high above his head. Kim smiled as she remembered the day Ron proposed to her. It was after the famous Team Possible succeeded another day of busting Dr. Drakken’s plan to conquer the world. Despite the fact that Drakken had aged and had actually made a family of twins with Shego, his dreams to conquer the world never ceased. Anyway, as the police took Drakken and his family away (both his kids kinda inherited their parents’ evil temperament), Ron suggested that they should go to Bueno Nacho to celebrate another job well done. Kim sighed in boredom. They have been going to that fast food restaurant ever since the franchise came to Middleton when they were 1st grade. But what she didn’t know was that Ron had already planned with the worker there (I forgot his name) to prepare a naco with his proposal ring in it. So when Kim ate the naco and accidentally bit the rock-hard 20-carat diamond ring, she had the shock of her life as Ron knelt before her while she held that mustard-covered ring in her hand. 2 months later, they were officially Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable.

Kim could tell that it was night judging by all the lit lights in the house. She slowly tore all the wires and tubes on her body and went for the wardrobe. All her clothes inside were wrapped perfectly in plastic and looked as good as new. She didn’t remember keeping those clothes in plastic, nor did she remember her or Ron being a neat freak. She shrugged and pulled out a bathing robe to wear before slowly—a little painfully even—making her way to the kitchen.

Everything was the way she last remembered. As she poured herself a drink from the fridge, her mind began to clear and slowly, she remembered what had happened to her. It was the biggest battle ever. Senor Senior Sr. and his son were the ones who started it. They used their wealth to draw every villain in the world to them, including old villains Duff Killigan, Monkey Fist, Drakken & family, Gill and D.N. Amy, and formed an evil coalition to attack and overthrow every politician in the world. They would’ve succeeded, if it weren’t for ours truly Kimberly Anne Possible and Ronald Kennedy Stoppable. After a hectic fight, they were able to bring the coalition down and behind bars, but Kim had sustained multiple injuries in the process, including fractures, bleeding and bruises. The 20-feet fall did it. The last thing she remembered was Ron subduing his powers and holding her in his arms, calling out her name…

“Must have been a really bad fall…” Kim whispered to herself after draining her glass. Suddenly she felt hungry, as if she hadn’t been eating for a long, long time. Come to think of it, probably she never ate since her supposed coma. Her body must’ve been fed by the supplements through those tubes. She searched the cupboards for anything edible, but all of them were bare and dusty, save one cupboard storing instant noodles in a big pressure container. Why would instant noodles be stored in that container anyway? That’s the weirdest storage she had ever seen.

“I guess this will do,” Kim sighed and turned on the stove. The wonders of the future. Science and technology have created the perfect device that needs neither gas tank nor electricity. As long as the batteries in the contraption are fully charged under solar power, the stove can be used whenever it’s needed. Seemed like Ron had finally remembered to charge the batteries this time, Kim thought, smiling to herself. I wonder where he is though. At work, maybe?

With the bowl of steaming hot instant noodle, Kim moved to the sitting room. The sofa still felt as comfy as ever. Kim took a long whiff of the curry-flavoured noodle and dug in. As she savoured the taste, she noticed a number of mini-discs on the table. On the surface of the discs were dates and numbers, some of them date way back when they were pre-K. She searched for the remote control and decided to give the TV and disc player a try. As the machinery turned on, she slipped in the first disc, the one dated when they were pre-K, and the first thing she saw were their mothers trying to get them ready for Halloween. Mrs. Possible was laughing at how Ron danced and pranced around in his ballerina tutu while Mrs. Stoppable attached the sheriff pin on her cowboy vest. Kim remembered the embarrassment she felt when she walked down the streets side by side with a fluttering Ron while the other kids giggled and snickered at them, and the usual phrase Ron used whenever they reached a house for trick-or-treating.

“Trick-or-treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat,” Kim said those words the same time the pre-K Ron on TV said it, before giggling to herself. She would’ve said “Jinx, you owe me a soda” if she wasn’t facing the TV instead of the real Ron. Ron always lost when it comes to jinxing.

As she switched from disc to disc, memories from long ago began to return to her. She remembered the very first day she met Ron in the daycare centre when she tried to fend some bad-looking kids off him. She remembered the website she had created online, with a little help from Ron, to earn some extra pocket money. It supposed to be a normal website based on babysitting, but somehow the quote ‘I can do anything’ had led her to the crime-fighting business. She remembered being discovered by Wade Load through a webcam chatroom and soon formed an alliance with him to help save the world from practically anything that endangers it. At first, she never thought that Ron would even accept this position as sidekick and face the risk of death everyday, but he surprised her by saying to Wade on that fateful day: If KP is going, I’m going. Just remembering him say that sent a warm, fuzzy feeling in her heart. His volunteering words proved to be the best results she had ever had, although his moves are slightly wackier than she hoped. It still surprised her as to how she ended up being like this since she had a rocket scientist for a dad and a brain surgeon for a mom, but not that she’s complaining. Not much, really.

Then came the villains. The discovery of Dr. Drakken, the main mad villian and his association with her father in college, Shego with her glowing killer hands, Gill and his eternal grudge with Ron, golf-obsessed Duff Killigan while she was working alongside with Agent Will Do from Global Justice (not a very pleasant partnership, but a job well done, nonetheless), D. N. Amy and her weird animal experiments, evil tycoons Senor Senior Sr. and Jr., Monkey Fist and his weird primate features and many, many more she could hardly recall. She had to both fend them off from the world and complete her assignments on time and manage a dozen clubs, including the cheerleading team at the same time. She could even still make time for social life like hanging with Monique and Ron, dining in Bueno Nacho, making friends online or just laze around home spending quality time with the family (nothing quality about The Tweebs, though). Then she remembered the day Ron was called to Japan on some mysterious circumstance, not knowing that Ron had discovered the shocking news about being destined as the Master of Tai Sheng Pek Quar and have to go through rigorous but nevertheless hilarious training. She remembered the aching feeling when she saw the Japanese girl called Yori Kansumi giving him a peck on the cheek. She never thought she would feel jealous at someone else who had a liking for him. Back then when he was being kissed at Camp Wannaweep by Tara and the time he tried to woo the heart of the girl in the movie ticket stand, she hadn’t felt anything. That was the first time.

When she saw the scene on TV where she and Ron were doing a little fund-raising campaign at school, sharing a booth with Josh Mankey, a small wave of guilt went past her. She remembered the days when she went all ga-ga over Josh despite the fact that Ron was there watching her. She felt a little bit awkward after recalling the incident 3 weeks after the prom. It was on the exact day during the fund-raising where she realized the harsh truth: Josh already had a crush with someone else from Latin class. The dance with her that night was just to humour her, to make her happy. His feelings for her weren’t anymore than pure friendship. As she sat at the stairs in front of the school entrance musing about her unfortunate loss, Ron was there by her side to comfort her and tell her that there are other fishes in the sea than Josh alone. She wasn’t too grateful then but she was now. Come to think of it, when she had locked braces with that Nelson guy, Ron was the one to have Mrs. Stoppable drive them to the orthodontist. He had always been by her side no matter what. There wasn’t a time when he wasn’t there to help her out with both her crime-busting and daily life. She often felt sorry for her oblivious behaviour back then, especially when she left him locked in the janitor’s closet, but seeing that they were officially husband and wife was enough to tell her that Ron had never held those grudges against her.

Then the scene came when she was fending the camera off while she raced down the steps to meet up Ron for the prom. She remembered coming home in a hurry after stopping Dr. Drakken with his Diablo plans and fighting Shego and his evil sythodrone Erik and that it was those nosy Tweebs who flashed the videocam at her in her burnt prom dress. Lucky for her, it was only the end of her dress the Diablo robot had totaled. She couldn’t believe she would fall for a pretty boy in the first place and totally ignore Ron and his feelings. The time when they were captured after the reality of Erik’s betrayal struck her, she had never expected Ron to confess his feelings to her. She didn’t think the person that was so right for her was just by her side, aiding her through thick and thin. The kiss they shared during the dance was the night they knew that they would be together forever. Then came the wedding event. She saw her putting on the dress and a makeup artist standing beside her ready to beautify her face. Her mother and Monique were sitting on the bed looking both dreamy and proud. Monique couldn’t stop complimenting her dress and how she knew that they were ‘so meant for each other’, and her mother couldn’t stop crying over how her little Kimmie had grown, with her father standing at the doorway giving her the look of reluctance, like he wasn’t ready to let his Kimmie-cub be in the hands of his future son-in-law Ron. Kim in the TV was rolling her eyes at their dramatic woes while the makeup artist began to apply eye-shadow on her lids. Bonnie was leaning against the wall looking at her rather grudgingly, and only muttered a few congrats before leaving the room. The rest of the cheerleading squad rushed in to watch and admire the makeup artist’s handiwork. Kim in real life also rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe she let herself be persuaded by Monique to invite Bonnie to the wedding when they were already mutual enemies in school, but maybe Monique wanted her to do that just to spite Bonnie. She had heard from Monique that after the prom, Bonnie had ditched Brick Flag for good, and despite being famous in her career as fashion designer, she had remained a spinster till now. Trust Monique to have the juiciest gossips of all Middleton.

The scene switched to Ron’s side of the preparation. The person who videoed them must done a little editing and she had to admit, it was pretty good. She could see Ron fumbled nervously with his tie and his father coming over to help him, with Rufus giggling in the background. Brick Flag, Josh Mankey and even Wade Load were there. That was the day that they actually and finally met Wade in person. Wade was laughing at Ron’s nervousness and told Brick to pour him a glass of champagne before shoving the contents into Ron’s gut. Kim frowned. No wonder Ron looked a little flushed when she was walking with her father at the aisle. Soon, the scene turned to Middleton Chapel where Kim was escorted to the back of the church and Ron ushered to the front. She noticed the amazed look on Ron’s face when she and her father walked the aisle in her snowy-white bridal gown. Almost everyone in Middleton was in the chapel, including the paparazzi. It’s not always you get to see the world’s famous teen heroes getting married to each other, you know. Wade was Ron’s best man and seemed honoured to be there. The familiar long prayer and good wishes from the priest and the vows were made. Kim swooned as she stared at Ron reaching over to claim her lips as soon as the priest gave him the cue. That was the best day of her life and she would never trade it for anything else.

Kim glanced towards the clock that was on the wall. 6.45. Is it a.m. or p.m.? It didn’t seem like the clock was ticking. Kim sighed. Didn’t Ron notice this before he went off to work? By the way, where is Ron? If he’s at work he should be back by now. After graduating high school and college, Ron had decided to take a job in the Bueno Nacho business and was working his way up to the top, hoping to succeed as Bueno Nacho’s El Presidente. Kim, on the other hand, started her own business online as a fashion consultant and greeting cards wholesaler, with Monique as her partner. Aside from the occasional crime-fighting, life as Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable was OK. They even planned to start a family before Senor Senior Sr.’s evil coalition started. While she was thinking about where Ron could be, she absentmindedly put in another mini-disc, the last one on the stack.

The image of Ron appeared. He looked rather old in this scene, with shoulder-length hair and tired-looking eyes. His face seemed like it needed a good shave. Wade was standing beside him. He, on the other hand, looked thinner and not as smart as he used to look back then. Behind them was the oxygen pod where she slept in. Judging by the sound of the heartbeat machine and the tubes that were all over the floor, leading towards the inside of the pad, her suspicions were confirmed. She had been in a coma after that 20-feet fall accident. What’s going on? Why are they looking like this? Has her coma devastated them so much? How long exactly has she been asleep to make them look like this?

“Hey, Kim sweetie,” Ron spoke to the camera. “If you’re watching this, I’m sure you’ve realized that I’m not here anymore. A lot has happened while you’re asleep, Kim. The doctors assured me that you would never wake up but I’m positive that I will soon see your beautiful green eyes again. You have no idea how I stayed by your side and prayed, hoping that one day you will come out of your slumber and call my name again. Not a day went by without me wondering when you’re gonna wake up, or whether you’re gonna wake up ever again.

“Like I said, Kim, loads have been happening while you’re asleep, Kim. Your parents…they…well, I hate to be the one to break it to you but…ever since you slipped into that coma, your father began to slip up in his job. He couldn’t concentrate anymore. He quit his job and began drinking. Your mother didn’t really fare too well either. She got jealous of those patients who were able to walk away healthy and free while you are still in that pod never seeing another light of day. Her jealousy turned to hatred and she began to kidnap patients, storing them in the underground basement your father built for her and…well…to put it gently, ‘experimenting’ with their bodies. Tortured and killed more than 36 patients before she was found and arrested. She’s in the Upperton Institute for the Criminally Insane as we speak. Your brothers were of no help either. They decided to join Dr. D and use their scientific talents to help with his deeds. As for your dad…he…he drank himself to death…”

Kim was speechless. She stared wide-eyed as she listened to every word that came out of Ron’s mouth. Her father intoxicating himself to death? Her mother becoming a sadistic murderess? The Tweebs joining forces with Drakken in his quest for world domination? How could this be true? How could this happen to her family? She had seen depressed families suffering from post-tragedy, but never like hers.

“Don’t worry,” Ron continued with his message, “my parents are a-OK. They died peacefully out of old age. Since your coma, I was the only one left to bust the crimes of the world. It’s about time I break the news to you since I’ve received permission from the sensei. Kim, I’m destined to be the Master of Monkey Kung Fu. You may not know it, but the very day I received the powers from that monkey statue, my destiny was written. That’s the reason why those monkey ninjas have been hanging around me last time. That’s also the reason I went to Japan and was with that Yori girl. I’ve been destined to fight a force greater than any evil that we have ever encountered and…I’m afraid the time is now. Dr. D’s kids have accidentally unleashed a forbidden being from another dimension—maybe even from Hell itself—into the world and they and their parents got killed in the process. Many people have died because of that forbidden being and this calls for me to stop it.

“It’s about time for me to go to battle. Wade’s coming along with me, so I won’t be alone. Before I go, I need to tell you something. I—or more importantly, Wade—had finally discovered the way to bring you back. It’s just the matter of healing all your broken parts again. It’s like repairing a machine back as good as new, like pressing a rewind button so that your body will seem as if it had never been broken before. It’s like creating a whole new you again. The only thing is that…well…that process will have to take at least 1000 years or less…

“I know it’s stupid. I know by then I wouldn’t be alive to see it…but it has always been my lifelong wish to see your green eyes again. Wade had persuade me against this but…maybe I get to see your green eyes in another lifetime…maybe we might meet again 1000 years from now…”

“Ron, the disturbance is getting worse in the northern region. We must get there quick,” Wade exclaimed in the background. Ron nodded at him before getting up and away from the camera. He came towards the pod and clicked a few buttons, revealing a virtual screen. He stared at it long and hard before Wade came towards him and asked, “Ron, are you sure of this? If you are, by pressing that YES button you will start activating the protection shield around this apartment.”

Ron didn’t reply. He continued staring at the virtual screen before tentatively reaching his hand over the YES button. Above the YES and NO button were the words: PROCESS WILL TAKE A MILLENIUM. PROCEED? Ron then took a deep breath and touched the YES button. The entire atmosphere around him began to light up and illuminate both Ron and Wade before fading into the normal lighting. Ron sighed and got up. He walked up to the camera and said his final words, “It is done. I love you, Kim. Forever.”

The TV screen became blank, indicating the camera being turned off and the disc taken out. Kim stared and stared at the screen, utterly speechless, her instant noodle forgotten. How could this be? A forbidden being unleashed to terrorize the world? Her family dead in such tragedy? Ron being the Master of Monkey kung fu? A healing process that takes a thousand years to complete? Ron is gone? Forever? This cannot be happening! A thousand years had not passed! It couldn’t have been a thousand years! She couldn’t have slept that long! This is all just a joke, right? Or is this all just a dream which she will wake up seeing Ron staring down at her?

Filled with denial, Kim ran towards the blinds and pulled it, expecting the bright sunny sky but was greeted with a horrific scene. It was raining outside and the entire Middleton was like in a complete blackout. It was so dark and cold and the occasional lightning only gave enough light for her to see bits and pieces of what was left of Middleton. She raced out of the apartment and into the streets, only to realize that the apartment was the only one standing. The rest were all reduced to dust and rubble, including Middleton High and their favourite haunt Bueno Nacho. The cinemas, Club Banana, Smarty Mart…all were gone. There was no intact building in sight. Kim couldn’t believe her eyes. What’s going on? How could this be? Has a thousand years really passed? What happened to all the buildings and houses? Have they lost to the force of the forbidden being? No! Ron would never lose! He couldn’t lose! This cannot be happening! This cannot be happening to her!

“Hello! Anyone out there? Hello? Can anybody hear me? Is anyone out there!”

There was no answer. Isn’t anyone out there? Aren’t there any survivors of this tremor? Isn’t there anyone—even a single soul—that still linger in this place? Could it be that they’ve…? No, no, no! It cannot be! Kim began to run despite the fact that her body was still not ready for vigorous movements and that her bare feet began to bleed over the sharp stones she stepped on. As the raining beat heavily on her, drenching her from head to toe, she ran, frantically calling out for anyone to hear.

“Ron! Wade! Tweebs! Anybody! Someone please answer me! Where is everybody!”

She didn’t know how long she ran and how long she shouted. All she knew was that she had to find someone, anyone who could tell her what had happened to Middleton, or even the world. She wanted to know the truth about all this: what was going on, what had happened when she was asleep, what had the forbidden being did to this place, or at least find out that everything happening here is not real and she will be back in her room with Ron sleeping beside her, sharing their body warmth together. Suddenly, she tripped and landed face first in a muddy puddle. She coughed and spluttered, spitting out the mud that went into her mouth. She rubbed her eyes off the grime before these few words appeared before her eyes:

HERE LIES RONALD KENNEDY STOPPABLE,

LOVING HUSBAND & BEST FRIEND

MAY HIS 25 YEARS IN LIFE BE WELL REMEMBERED…

“R…Ron…? It can’t be…” Kim breathed her words as she traced her fingers on the engraved tombstone. She looked around and found herself in an unmarked abandoned graveyard for those who had died in war. She saw other names like Monique, Brick, Wade, Josh, Tara and even Bonnie, but none of them compared to the shock she saw in front of her eyes.

“Ron…You couldn’t have died, have you?” Kim forced a smile as she continued tracing her fingers on and around the tombstone. “You said it before, you’re the Master of Monkey Kung Fu. You’re destined to fight things more evil than our previous adventures. You couldn’t have just died without a fight, have you? Remember the days we were together in our missions? You and I often get away without so much as a scratch…you can’t die like this, can you? That’s so not you, Ron…

“You said you wanted to see my green eyes you loved so much again…you said you love me forever and we would meet again…you said you wanted to start a family, have a kid or two…You can’t die just like that without fulfilling your promise now, can you? Come on, Ron. Tell me this is not true. Tell me you’re somewhere hiding. Let me hear you say ‘Booyah’ again, just like old times, huh?”

Silence. Nothing greeted her. No smiles. No ‘Booyah’. No Rufus in his pocket. No familiar colour of his clothes and his hair and his freckles. No Ron. Kim balled her fists and pounded them onto the tombstone until they bled. All the while she screamed and cursed like she would never stop.

“It’s not fair! How could you do this to me! How could you leave me like this! If you knew that you’re gonna die before I wake up, why did you go ahead with it! Why the shit didn’t you listen to Wade! If you knew you were fighting a losing battle, why didn’t you come back to me and let me die with you! How could you! How could you let me live while you die! I’m all alone here without you! Everyone’s dead and I’m all alone! You said you love me when you leave me here to fend for myself! You bastard! You could’ve at least asked Wade to freeze you or something so that I can revive you as soon as I wake up! How could you fucking leave me here! Why, Ron! Why can’t you just let me die with you? I love you, Ron! I love you more than life itself! My life is nothing without you, Ron! How could you do this to me! RON!”

Under the pouring rain, Kim cried…

Because at a thousand years later,

When I don’t exist in this world,

I cannot feel the smoothness of your hand or kiss your soft forehead,

Don’t wait a thousand years later,

When I’m forgotten in this world,

It’ll be like the desert on a red sunset,

That can never replace a thousand years of loneliness…

—Translated from the chorus of JJ’s song ‘A Thousand Years Later’