I’m one of those people who wasn’t afraid of the Dentist. Injections, extractions, none of that bothered me. I’d be quite happy laying in the chair staring at the ceiling tiles, while a stranger rummaged around in my mouth with their instruments, scraping and drilling.

So there I was, relaxed and ready, glancing at the Dentist preparing the anaesthetic. I’d been in an accident and one of my teeth had suffered some damage. The only recourse was to extract it.

The Dentist slowly injected the anaesthetic, the tiny needle penetrating the surrounding area. Four injections in all.

“Let’s give it a couple of minutes and we’ll remove the tooth.”

I then heard a small voice.

“What is this stuff you’ve just had put inside you? It’ll spoil the fun. Hold on, I’ll get rid of it.”

Where I had felt my mouth going numb it was now returning to normal – as if the Lidocaine (or whatever they used these days) was being drained out of me.

I wanted to protest but I couldn’t open my mouth. In fact I couldn’t move at all.

“Relax, Dave. It’s me – your old friend, Flongo. I’m back!”

Flongo.

My imaginary childhood friend. I couldn’t really remember how he looked. Odd? I couldn’t see him though; I could only hear him.

“That wallop you got from your accident brought me back. Well – inside your head at least. We’re going to have a lot of fun together! Just like the old days!”

The Dentist asked the nurse for the forceps. She removed them from the wrapper and passed them over.

“Nice and numb?” the Dentist asked.

I nodded and raised a thumb. Except it wasn’t me doing it. It was Flongo.

The Dentist gripped the tooth with the forceps and started to twist and move it from side to side loosening it. The pain was excruciating. Flongo was laughing.

The nerves connecting my tooth were being ripped and torn away. The pressure from the tugging was causing my whole jaw to light up in pain.

Flongo sounded euphoric. “It’s like the old days!”

The old days.

When I was seven, Flongo entered my life. I was an only child living in a dead, rural town. He was my only friend.

Flongo used to dare me to hurt myself. Seeing me in pain made him happy and everyone likes their friends to be happy. So I hurt myself more and more. Eventually, my parents took me to see someone who ‘repelled’ Flongo.

But now he was back.

Eventually, the tooth was pulled free, my heart pumping like a porn star. Flongo relinquished control of my body. The Dentist applied the pad and sent me on my way with the necessary aftercare instructions.

Walking home, I sensed Flongo was the happiest he’d ever been. So happy he took control again and walked straight into traffic.

I suffered multiple fractures. The surgeon told me the operation to correct everything would take about three hours.

Flongo was overjoyed.