Tell it Slant

Emily (U.S.A.)

[Writing experiment]

The Cancer Cell

I can feel her jaw clench at night. She grinds. Her muscles pulse and strain from the satin of her teeth down through the wrinkles in her neck. For as long as I’ve known her, or rather, from when she found out about me, she never clenched. So, what is that now? About six weeks. She’s been a clencher for six weeks.

She even bought a plastic mouth guard to help with the clenching, but all it does is provide a bumper of sorts, like the rubber bumper on a car, or how cars used to have rubber bumpers #bringbackrubberbumpers. She said that once, “#bringbackrubberbumpers.” She had just come out from her office building, noticed a deep scratch on her rear white bumper, and swore under her breath, muttering, “fucking hell, #bringbackrubberbumpers.” Her ramblings amuse me.

Her dentist will be pleased that there aren’t any signs of her teeth grinding, but her masseuse will know better. I can hear Bethany say, “Oh, you’re off on the right,” and, “The front of your neck is so tight, let’s see if this helps,” as she kneads her knuckles into the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Yes, that’s the name of the muscle on the front side of the neck, the sternocleidomastoid. Try and say that one out loud at least once! And this ‘lil one is the tell-tale muscle for all her stress. Once this baby goes, there’s no hiding that there’s something wrong. All anyone needs to do is look closely at her body language to know she’s stressed beyond comfort. She’ll sit all day rubbing her neck, stretching it from side to side. Ear to shoulder. Now, other ear to shoulder, repeat. Massaging her jaw, her neck, her hands. It’s so obvious.

Based on her constant sleepless midnight panic-induced deep dives on the internet, I could assess that I’m about ten years old. Just a kid, really, but wise beyond my years. On an old soul, a muse, a teacher, a mentor, a guide, a wakeup.

I don’t know why they chose me when I was just a little dark cell, but I’ve been sent on a mission selected by the council of healthy cells in her body as a warning and a teacher. My assignment is to send a message. The message: Time for a resurrection, or else.