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Station 22 | by Devin Hamilton

ย  ย  ย Iโ€™m not proud to say that I am enmeshed within an internal Technicolor conflict. That is simply the way it is. A war that aligns taunting voices, angry shadows, and grim insistent strangers against me. What I do not understand is why doctors claiming to help continue looping back to the ridiculous question of whether any of it is real? Of course it is real. I am experiencing it, what other qualification could there be?

ย  ย  ย A nurse in purple adjusts her shoulders while the pen in her hand scratches across a clipboard. My Doctor, although I donโ€™t own him and if heโ€™s offered Iโ€™d certainly decline buying, tells me that the question is important because I must start distinguishing. His voice imbued with medical professional patience, even as his wrinkled eyes slip to the doorframe behind me where a clock is stationed.

ย  ย  ย Does he have a wife? The purple nurse, her clothes not her skin, Iโ€™m not that insane, stops the penโ€™s dancing. Well, yes, in fact he does. My Doctorโ€™s palms of servitude close together atop of a glass desk and he patiently awaits my reply. Well, if he has a wife letโ€™s assume that he loves her. Does it mean that because I am not experiencing the love for his wife that it does not exist? That it is not real? My Doctor calmly smiles after I finish explaining. This I do not appreciate, because a doctorโ€™s smile has been known to signify too many inconsistent and often hidden motivations. A smile is an easy tactic to distract as guardians are in lobbies signing signatures. My Doctor concedes the point. Perhaps Iโ€™ll consider buying him after all. His throat coughs and he argues that his love doesnโ€™t tell him that he caused power outs in the south by posting a tweet, or that his father is trying to possess him. The pen clicks and begins again. The session ends the same way it began: brainstorming tricks called strategies and methods for me to determine whether this voice or that voice is lying.

ย  ย  ย When I am allowed to leave I notice that the movie playing in the common area is Kill Bill. Maybe when my sister comes tonight sheโ€™d like to watch. She could bring me a meatball sub with extra marinara sauce, because they wonโ€™t put enough on if you donโ€™t ask for it. I think of texting her, but I forgotโ€ฆmy phone was taken away two weeks ago.

 


 

Devin is a writer obsessed with shadow and movement. She enjoys an overindulgence of coffee and wine. In her work she aims to capture The Edge.

Twitter: @devinhamilton1