everyadventure
06-02-2011, 01:29 PM
The doctor smiles brightly,
his Adam's apple nodding in agreement.
"Clinical depression is a treatable disease,"
he proclaims, waving a glossy brochure as proof,
pointing at the model's toothy smile.
"Like diabetes, it can be managed with proper medication--"
the rats nibble at plaster walls,
as though they're made of crusted frosting.
I can hear the scrape of their teeth
and spy a pointed nose rooting at a crack.
I rush to plug the chinks
but they slide in, glossy liquid bodies
and sharp shrewd eyes
"--these samples, and we'll have you fixed up in no time."
He hands me the pills, pink and cheerful within their bubbles.
I pop one from its plastic casing,
pinching it between trembling fingers.
Kneeling, I extend it cautiously to a rat.
It sniffs, wiry whiskers grazing skin.
I will myself still, rigid.
The rat considers my offering,
then bites my hand.
With the promise of blood,
the rats descend.
his Adam's apple nodding in agreement.
"Clinical depression is a treatable disease,"
he proclaims, waving a glossy brochure as proof,
pointing at the model's toothy smile.
"Like diabetes, it can be managed with proper medication--"
the rats nibble at plaster walls,
as though they're made of crusted frosting.
I can hear the scrape of their teeth
and spy a pointed nose rooting at a crack.
I rush to plug the chinks
but they slide in, glossy liquid bodies
and sharp shrewd eyes
"--these samples, and we'll have you fixed up in no time."
He hands me the pills, pink and cheerful within their bubbles.
I pop one from its plastic casing,
pinching it between trembling fingers.
Kneeling, I extend it cautiously to a rat.
It sniffs, wiry whiskers grazing skin.
I will myself still, rigid.
The rat considers my offering,
then bites my hand.
With the promise of blood,
the rats descend.