Double-Decker to London

It was a double-decker bus, and we had the four seats in the front – one for each of us, and one for the cello. This was fantastic for views, but was a mistake in the middle of the night. First it was so freezing cold, with the air conditioning, and the cold expanse of glass, that I finally, teeth chattering, went down and asked them to not make it quite so cold. (It was 22 degrees C.) They turned on the heat. Well, the heater had to heat the entire bus, and blasted us first. For an hour it was perfect, but then it was like being in a sauna. It must have been 40 degrees now (near 100f). But we weren’t sleeping much anyway.

Come morning, we heard the voice of a young woman behind us rise in panic. “You mean this goes through the Chunnel? I thought it went on the ferry!” She was claustrophobic, and the thought of going under the English channel in the new tunnel was horrifying. Her voice switched on a ‘mama button’ in me, and I knew that I could take care of her. I went back, and very calmly said that I could get her through the experience, and she shouldn’t worry. I could relax her so that she wasn’t aware of where we were. I told her that if she didn’t mind that I had no real training in this, it would be fine.

She had no other choice, and looked at me with true gratitude.

When we got to the tunnel, I knew I had 35 minutes of a passage to use up. I had her lie back, and did the traditional hypnotic relaxation. Then I started narrating. I took her to her place of choice, a beach, with her boyfriend. I took her swimming with dolphins, and sea turtles; I had her create a large Mandela out of shells, stones and polished glass; I had the waves wash away the Mandela, like a Tibetan sand painting, and take with it all her fears. I had her find just the one that was left behind, and string that around her neck. I took her all through the night, lying out on the beach under the stars until the sun rose, and all through, leaving fear behind and opening up to possibilities that would happen when she wasn’t paralyzed by fear. Just when I was wondering how much more story I’d have to spin, the announcer said, “Welcome to England.” We’d done it. She opened her eyes and looked at me with such love and profound relief. There was no fear. It looked as if she’d had a permanent change.