Words

Three

Mom looked up as I entered the kitchen in my pajamas. She was holding a mug that had what smelled like coffee and took a long sip. When she placed it on the counter, she smiled and said, "Morning, Dear. How'd you sleep? Is your stomach okay?"

I rubbed my eyes for any signs of leftover crust. "Good morning, I slept well." I strained to say between yawning, "Mhm, I feel better after sleeping." And eating words.

"That's great! I thought you had a stomach virus." She then walked to the cabinet to fetch a box of cereal before grabbing a spoon and bowl. Heading to the fridge, she took out a half full gallon of milk. "I'll make you some cereal. There's bread in the toaster as well, if that doesn't fill you up."

I nodded in response as I sat in the stool that faced the empty glass bowl. "Thank you."

"No problem! I was going to cook pancakes but I'm running a little late so this is the least I can do. I'll make them tomorrow."

I was glad that she didn't though, because I was starting to realize that my stomach was against digesting normal food ever since that day. "That's fine, I like cereal. Are you sure that I can have the toast, though? Eating in front of you doesn't sit well with me."

Her white hair swayed as she shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I'm getting a breakfast sandwich at Wawa." She then poured the Crunchies cereal in my bowl before adding milk to it.

I nodded while swirling the cereal around with the silver spoon distractedly. If I ate this, what would happen to me? Would it be just like before when I ate the velvet cake?

I looked down at the bowl of cereal that stood before me with unease. My stomach felt much better after eating my English notes, making me wonder how any of this was real. Before I saw my words go in my mouth for the first time, I could eat food without a problem. But now... why was my stomach acting like this?

As far as I knew, I was never allergic to anything. What was going on with my body? Could it have been the words that made my stomach hurt? That sounded unlikely, because even though I didn't feel full even after I had such a filling meal, my hunger was sated the moment I ate my words.

Resting my head in my hands, I closed my eyes and sighed. This was getting more and more complicated. I couldn't simply pass this off as a hallucination because after that day no one could read my handwriting. The reality of this was starting to sink in. I wouldn't be able to write essays.

That... that would be a serious problem. Though, I could just type it on my laptop. But what about notes? Homework? Presentations? Tests? What was going to happen to my academic record?

It was then that I came to the realization of how much of my life would be affected by this phenomenon. How long would this last? For the rest of my life? Writing was an absolute necessity in anyone's daily life. Why was it taken away from me? What had I done to deserve this? It didn't make any sense. None of it did, really.

I tightened my fists in my lap out of frustration. I hated not understanding something. Knowing that this wasn't normal only deepened my hatred. Even after scouring through the internet for any signs of a solution, nothing could be found no matter how many hours I spent looking.

All weekend I desperately searched only to have fruitless results. I was beyond exhausted from constantly skimming through book pages and exploring the endless internet. Now I simply accepted my fate- or at least, tried to.

The bowl of assorted sugary goodness that I had once upon a time adored devouring looked unappetizing to me now. I didn't want to eat because I noticed that that was the reason why I was getting sick. However, if I didn't eat then Mom and Dad would start to get worried about my health.