A school morning you were glad to miss

Pediatrician’s Waiting Room

A school morning you were glad to miss, right up until the hallway door opened. The fish tank hums, the vent runs cold on the back of your neck, and the magazines are for people forty years older than everyone who sits here. Your name has already been called once and nobody stood up, and you did not say anything, because saying something meant going in. You remember the bead maze better than you remember any doctor, and that is how you know how many times you sat here.

Reality Is Optimal · created by Julian Cape, 2026