Alexander Jankiewicz
Fulda, Hesse, Germany

Cavity

It's funny how things slow down when you're in pain. I'm on my way to the dentist with a piercing toothache when, for some strange reason, I think of a girl that I once loved. She didn't know it. I never had the courage to tell her. I can see the irony in it, on my way to a dentist to get rid of pain. "Courage," I think, "Courage."

I try not to let my phobia of dentists get the better of me. It would be pointless since there's no alternative. While in the waiting room, I notice a kid chatting away with all smiles. Salt in an open wound.

I escape back to my younger days. A youthful crush. "Too good for me," I remember thinking. I can see her face as clear as day. Why, I wonder, didn't I ever tell her? "The pain," I answer. "The fear of pain."

"And where are you now?" I ask myself.

in a closet
an old yearbook
gathers dust