Erosion Diagnosis

A tiny abnormality during a routine checkup, like a grain of sand falling into the gears of fate. A nightmare foretells a grave illness and utter isolation, and reality eerily recreates it soon after: I am diagnosed with a mental illness and sent to Room 404. The forced medication clouds my mind, and in my dreams I fall into a “hospital governed by mental rules.” When I wake, the nightmare has come true: I am lying in Room 404 of the Rules Hospital. The pills gleam coldly as the nurse says, “You’ve been here all along.”