a stranger's advice

She was nearly a year from her 50th birthday, but her brown Samoan skin was smooth like her hair, coiffed just so. A low pompadour was slicked into place with gel. I walked into the clinic exam room to find her face was clenched like she was silently counting down the seconds until she would get up and leave because she didn’t want to be there in the first place.

no better reason

It was still winter and she had recently been admitted to hospital for the flu. This past season the flu, which usually just kills sickly babies and old people, was killing healthy young adults. She was still in her twenties, but nowhere near healthy.