1.
This is my Holiday gift; I’m telling my Long Covid story so maybe you won’t ever have one.
Long Covid is like stopping on a road trip. You get snacks and head back to your car. Except your car isn’t there anymore. There’s a different one in your spot but it’s the only one.
This is my Holiday gift; I’m telling my Long Covid story so maybe you won’t ever have one.
Long Covid is like stopping on a road trip. You get snacks and head back to your car. Except your car isn’t there anymore. There’s a different one in your spot but it’s the only one.
2.
You look around because maybe there’s someone who knows something but it's dark & empty as far as you can see. Who would you ask anyway? Miles from home, there’s nothing but you and this car. You get in; what else is there?
You look around because maybe there’s someone who knows something but it's dark & empty as far as you can see. Who would you ask anyway? Miles from home, there’s nothing but you and this car. You get in; what else is there?
3.
But the dashboard has controls you’ve never seen before. You’re not sure how anything works. The windshield wipers come on as a bright sun lifts overhead. It gets dark but there are no headlights; sparks shoot from the front of the car. That’s all the light you get.
But the dashboard has controls you’ve never seen before. You’re not sure how anything works. The windshield wipers come on as a bright sun lifts overhead. It gets dark but there are no headlights; sparks shoot from the front of the car. That’s all the light you get.
4.
The glove compartment opens and shuts for no reason. You squint to see. Steer to the left but the car goes right. Sometimes it hovers just above the ground. You want to be home. This trip is so tiring; the newness, this strangeness is wearing you out because it changes.
The glove compartment opens and shuts for no reason. You squint to see. Steer to the left but the car goes right. Sometimes it hovers just above the ground. You want to be home. This trip is so tiring; the newness, this strangeness is wearing you out because it changes.
5.
Just when you think you’ve figured out the brakes, they aren’t there anymore. You’ll have to find a new way to stop because suddenly, this strange, anomalous car is all you have. It’s your new body. You have Long Covid.
Just when you think you’ve figured out the brakes, they aren’t there anymore. You’ll have to find a new way to stop because suddenly, this strange, anomalous car is all you have. It’s your new body. You have Long Covid.
6.
At home your family tells you use too much salt but you can’t taste it. You hate the smell of canned tuna but your husband is making tuna salad and you don’t smell it. You tell yourself this is a saving’s grace.
At home your family tells you use too much salt but you can’t taste it. You hate the smell of canned tuna but your husband is making tuna salad and you don’t smell it. You tell yourself this is a saving’s grace.
7.
You wander around the house looking for the source of the smoke you smell but there’s nothing. No one else smells it. Days later, it smells like cigars. Your ears ring constantly and it’s okay but at night it seems so loud.
You wander around the house looking for the source of the smoke you smell but there’s nothing. No one else smells it. Days later, it smells like cigars. Your ears ring constantly and it’s okay but at night it seems so loud.
8.
When you get tired, the ground starts moving and you wonder how to put one foot in front of the other. You want to type something but you can’t work your fingers at the keyboard. You have something to say but it’s as if your thoughts are behind a glass covered with fog.
When you get tired, the ground starts moving and you wonder how to put one foot in front of the other. You want to type something but you can’t work your fingers at the keyboard. You have something to say but it’s as if your thoughts are behind a glass covered with fog.
9.
You’re always tired. On rare days, you feel almost okay & you lull in that fine space. Now, you can get something done! But there’s always a price. I washed the windows. The sunlight pours into the kitchen. The brightness is everywhere but for a week after I’m so tired again.
You’re always tired. On rare days, you feel almost okay & you lull in that fine space. Now, you can get something done! But there’s always a price. I washed the windows. The sunlight pours into the kitchen. The brightness is everywhere but for a week after I’m so tired again.
10.
You don’t tell anyone you have Long Covid because you don’t want it to be real. The garden you planted, the one strangers would tell you was beautiful, is filled with dead flowers. Your world is getting further and further away.
You don’t tell anyone you have Long Covid because you don’t want it to be real. The garden you planted, the one strangers would tell you was beautiful, is filled with dead flowers. Your world is getting further and further away.
11.
At night the stars splay out undaunted by the darkness around them. They think they will shine forever; that they are invincible. Even then it was a fantasy, but once you felt that way too.
End.
At night the stars splay out undaunted by the darkness around them. They think they will shine forever; that they are invincible. Even then it was a fantasy, but once you felt that way too.
End.
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