MUMMIFIED

MORNING COMES. I can’t move from my bed.

Ginny knocks on my door.

I tell her I’m sick.

I skip school.

I don’t take a call from Luis.

Don’t get dressed.

Don’t even get out of bed.

Ginny comes back again and again; I just grunt every time she asks me how I’m doing. And I turn down all offers of sweet potato stew, Thai potpie, fruit salad, fruit leather, hot tea, iced tea, orange juice, NyQuil, DayQuil, Pepto, Vick’s VapoRub.

I feel like a jerk, because I know that more than anything, my grandma wants to help me.

Luis calls again.

I still don’t talk to him.

I think about my life too much.

And I wonder if I’ll ever do anything worth anything.