05
I lie in bed and listen to the ringing in my ears. It’s a sharp and constant frequency that feels like it’s coming from somewhere higher in the left ear than it is in the right, the two points connecting, the line a buzzsaw cutting through my head. Tinnitus. That’s the name for the condition. Only it’s a weird condition – for me, at least. A doctor at the Royal Ear and Eye Hospital examined my ears and hearing years ago, and said they were fine. He posed that I might’ve had an infection or something once, the ringing had been a symptom, and I recovered from the infection but…
Thirteen
Colds don’t usually raze me, but about five or six years ago I caught one that was especially bad. BEST FRIEND sent me home from work with the instruction I stay there until I recovered – she probably didn’t want me spreading it more than anything. I idled around my flat, watched a movie, did some writing, then went to bed. It was my own little holiday. Because I didn’t have to get up for work the next day, I tried to sleep in. I had a big deposit of tiredness that I needed to bank, but even my sleep-ins are restless. I roused briefly around late morning and, in…