Been sick recently?
I’ll remind you anyway. It starts with a swollen throat, and it’s hard to swallow. You feel tired. Your head is heavy and stuffed with M&Ms, which clatter around whenever you see a bright light or hear a noise. Mucus drips out your nostrils, down your esophagus, lubricating everything in gooey slime and half-finished words. Joints ache. Muscles tighten. Skull heats up. Stomach growls, tosses, retches. Fatigue takes over, then restlessness, then exhaustion. Everything becomes hazy and slow, everything is painful, everything is tiresome; nothing matters.
But it ends. The fever leaves. Your pain relaxes. Mucus dries, voice returns, meals are consumed. You recover. And life moves on.
I’ve been sick before. I’ll continue to get sick. But someday it’ll be easier, because one of those days will be the last time I’m ever sick again.
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