Anna Watters hated to be alone. It had developed almost to the level of a pathological phobia. During the day, she would sit with a group of friends at school, and then would be picked up by her mother At night, her parents would keep her company while she did her homework, and then her father would tuck her into bed and wait until she was asleep before going to bed. No-one, not even Anna, could fathom this terror, but it was as real and as crippling to her as a physical illness. If she was ever left alone, her heart would race until it seized up in her chest. She would vomit and then actually fall into unconsciousness if left alone for too long a time. This fear had begun when Anna had been but a child, and had continued up until now, her 16th year. Naturally, Anna's parents wanted to solve this problem. Due to her fear, a door had been built between her room and her parents, and she would frequently climb in between them, sobbing and afraid. Anna was due to leave school that semester and her parents worried how she (and they) would cope if she was at home 24hours a day.
Finally, it was decided that a doctor would have to take control of the situation. Anna, soft and quiet, as ever agreed with her parents. She was as confused as anyone about her problems. Whenever she was left alone for long periods of time, a slow terror would build up in her. Once, she had tried to remember when this fear had started, but all she could remember was her mother, singing her a lullaby in a darkened room. Thinking of this, however, made her attacks worse, and she had never had the courage to ask her mother about that memory, afraid that she would be implicating her own mother as the cause of her problems. Finally, the day of the psychiatrist's appointment loomed. Anna, dressed childishly as ever in a mickey mouse tee shirt and denim shorts, plodded dutifully after her parents as they entered the plush offices of Dr Salzberg. And very plush they were. Since the Stockmarket boom of 1987, Anna's parents, Joe and Mary, had earned astonishing amounts of money through their financial advice business.Anna's home was opulent and she truly did want for nothing- bar the simple ability to sit by herself and have some time alone, something that Anna, a typical teenager, often craved. Thus,when they said they wanted the best, they got the best, and Dr Salzberg was, without doubt,the best-he had even been on Oprah.
