At fourteen, Vanessa Hoffman started complaining of headaches and fatigue. Her stomach was finicky, and her appetite dwindled. Sometimes she found herself out of breath and sometimes her hands and legs felt numb and sometimes her joints hurt. Her balance would go off intermittently. She answered adults with “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am” and mostly […]
He woke up with a painful crick in his neck from where he had fallen asleep on the sofa. The bottle of whiskey that he had been drinking to celebrate his success of the night before had fallen from his hand while he slept and rolled across the carpet, its contents spilling out and soaking […]
“The director of nursing said they were concerned,” Mat wasn’t sure if he’d mentioned this to his uncle but continued anyway, “that you’re more tired and less active.” “Well, there’s that. And my skin’s peeling. Hair’s falling out. Disintegrating, part by part.” Uncle Jack faced Mat with a brief piercing stare before looking down to […]
And the years marched on and on until another war was raging. Ella and Dan had only their youngest child left living at home, and he was beginning high school. Their daughter was in her first year of college, and Ted, the eldest, was on a break from university, traveling cross-country. He told his parents […]