Jennifer Wade Hesse<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/tpr8.jpeg?w=919\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Issue 16<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nFlash Fiction<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It feels like someone is pressing a match against\u2014no under\u2014<\/em>her skin. <\/p>\n\n\n\nLike her skin is a thin blanket, and if she peeled back the corner, she\u2019d reveal the burning match stub pressed up against her joint. She pictures telling the doctor this. Then decides against it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\u2019s tried to explain medical sensations before with terribly banal results. She\u2019s not sure she\u2019s ever gotten the correct treatments, but she doesn\u2019t know if it\u2019s her inability to explain, or the doctors\u2019 lack of imagination. Do they have any idea how hard it is to think and speak in analogies, similes and metaphors, and then try to convince the science-minded that something is wrong with her?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018It hurts.\u2019 isn\u2019t exactly true and neither is \u2018it burns.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She calls her sister, the nurse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pressure and a weakness with just the touch of purple pain that starts at the point where the burning match head is resting in my joint, under my skin. It glides up my leg but also ebbs and flows, like waves as the tide comes in, getting worse. Then the tide recedes. It feels like if I tried to stand on it, I\u2019d fall down. But, of course, I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nurse says matter-of-factly, while munching a cracker, a Triscuit by the sound of it, \u201cIt\u2019s nerve.\u201d But that\u2019s no explanation. What is the nerve doing? Misfiring? Dying? Sending tragic \u2018mayday\u2019 signals to a brain too absorbed in trying to describe it to understand the dire nature of it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPins and needles, right?\u201d says the nurse, swallowing what has to be Diet Coke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo\u2014fireworks, but tiny. Sparklers along the inside of my leg. It fizzes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah. That\u2019s nerve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo what do I tell the doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNerve pain in your leg. Starts at the knee and goes up to the hip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo I tell them about the tides of pain? Do I mention the fizzes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust say it sometimes aches and you get pins and needles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCan I say it throbs?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCan you walk on it? Can you carry on a conversation while it\u2019s happening?\u201d Another Tricuit splinters and dies through the phone line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, yeah, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust say \u2018aches\u2019.\u201d There is a swish and slurp of soda, then, \u201cListen. It\u2019s not a big deal. You don\u2019t have to call the doctor yet. Wait and see if it happens again. Anyway, lunch is done. I gotta go. Bye.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She looks at the dead phone in her hand. She hasn\u2019t even mentioned the growing, no burgeoning, pressure with mild navy blue pain spilled into it that waxes and wanes behind her ear on the left side. That\u2019s surely something malevolent. She pictures an air bubble in a pipe. She pictures the sketch of the elephant inside the snake that Antoine de Saint Exupery drew. She pictures the bulb of a frog’s throat. None of these are right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She thinks of her husband, another nurse, saying, \u201cWell, my urine has been dark. I just want to get checked out, so we\u2019re running a couple of tests.\u201d Tests that revealed the large dandelion puff of malignancy that would have stayed hidden for a couple more years if not for his mindful attention to his body. She thinks of the two extra years they had before another, more deadly, pappus drifted and settled into his colon. Those two almost perfect years. A gift born of self-awareness and early medical intervention. Because he had used the right words. He had described his physical symptoms in exactly the right way to make the doctors see and understand that something was not\u2026 Well, not right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She rubs the back of her neck on the left side. She mentally examines her left knee, trying to sense weakness or pressure. Is it significant that they are both on the left? It’s definitely sinister. She allows herself a wry chuckle. Sinister\u2014of, on, or toward the left hand side. Would the doctor even get that?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\nJennifer Wade Hesse<\/strong> won\u2019t tell her daughter how old she is. But suffice it to say she\u2019s old enough to have interesting experiences to write about and young enough (at heart) to think she might still be able to learn some new tricks. A middle school Gifted and Talented teacher from Louisville, Kentucky, Jennifer is also a step-mom, mother, dog mom and devoted wife who does everything with her full heart if not full attention. She\u2019s thrilled to be included in this issue and looks forward to continuing the search for the right word.
<\/summary>\n<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/water-lily1-2.jpeg?w=520\")
<\/a>Read “Big Dairy Called…<\/a>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/tpr-20.jpeg?w=504\")
<\/a>Read “The Mermaid Riot<\/a>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/tpr-26.jpeg?w=493\")
<\/a>Read “The Bead Collector…<\/a>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jennifer Wade Hesse Issue 16 Flash Fiction It feels like someone is pressing a match against\u2014no under\u2014her skin. Like her skin is a thin blanket, and if she peeled back the corner, she\u2019d reveal the burning match stub pressed up against her joint. She pictures telling the doctor this. Then decides against it. She\u2019s tried to explain medical sensations before with terribly banal results. She\u2019s not sure she\u2019s ever gotten the correct treatments, but she doesn\u2019t know if it\u2019s her inability to explain, or the doctors\u2019 lack of imagination. Do they have any idea how hard it is to think and speak in analogies, similes and metaphors, and then try to convince the science-minded that something is wrong with her? \u2018It hurts.\u2019 isn\u2019t exactly true and neither is \u2018it burns.\u2019 She calls her sister, the nurse. \u201cIt\u2019s a pressure and a weakness with just the touch of purple pain that starts at the point where the burning match head is resting in my joint, under my skin. It glides up my leg but also ebbs and flows, like waves as the tide comes in, getting worse. Then the tide recedes. It feels like if I tried to stand on it, I\u2019d fall down. But, of course, I don\u2019t.\u201d The nurse says matter-of-factly, while munching a cracker, a Triscuit by the sound of it, \u201cIt\u2019s nerve.\u201d But that\u2019s no explanation. What is the nerve doing? Misfiring? Dying? Sending tragic \u2018mayday\u2019 signals to a brain too absorbed in trying to describe it to understand the dire nature of it? \u201cPins and needles, right?\u201d says the nurse, swallowing what has to be Diet Coke. \u201cNo\u2014fireworks, but tiny. Sparklers along the inside of my leg. It fizzes.\u201d \u201cYeah. That\u2019s nerve.\u201d \u201cSo what do I tell the doctor?\u201d \u201cNerve pain in your leg. Starts at the knee and goes up to the hip.\u201d \u201cDo I tell them about the tides of pain? Do I mention the fizzes?\u201d \u201cJust say it sometimes aches and you get pins and needles.\u201d \u201cCan I say it throbs?\u201d \u201cCan you walk on it? Can you carry on a conversation while it\u2019s happening?\u201d Another Tricuit splinters and dies through the phone line. \u201cWell, yeah, but\u2026\u201d \u201cJust say \u2018aches\u2019.\u201d There is a swish and slurp of soda, then, \u201cListen. It\u2019s not a big deal. You don\u2019t have to call the doctor yet. Wait and see if it happens again. Anyway, lunch is done. I gotta go. Bye.\u201d She looks at the dead phone in her hand. She hasn\u2019t even mentioned the growing, no burgeoning, pressure with mild navy blue pain spilled into it that waxes and wanes behind her ear on the left side. That\u2019s surely something malevolent. She pictures an air bubble in a pipe. She pictures the sketch of the elephant inside the snake that Antoine de Saint Exupery drew. She pictures the bulb of a frog’s throat. None of these are right. She thinks of her husband, another nurse, saying, \u201cWell, my urine has been dark. I just want to get checked out, so we\u2019re running a couple of tests.\u201d Tests that revealed the large dandelion puff of malignancy that would have stayed hidden for a couple more years if not for his mindful attention to his body. She thinks of the two extra years they had before another, more deadly, pappus drifted and settled into his colon. Those two almost perfect years. A gift born of self-awareness and early medical intervention. Because he had used the right words. He had described his physical symptoms in exactly the right way to make the doctors see and understand that something was not\u2026 Well, not right. She rubs the back of her neck on the left side. She mentally examines her left knee, trying to sense weakness or pressure. Is it significant that they are both on the left? It’s definitely sinister. She allows herself a wry chuckle. Sinister\u2014of, on, or toward the left hand side. Would the doctor even get that?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2445","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Issue 16<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nFlash Fiction<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It feels like someone is pressing a match against\u2014no under\u2014<\/em>her skin. <\/p>\n\n\n\nLike her skin is a thin blanket, and if she peeled back the corner, she\u2019d reveal the burning match stub pressed up against her joint. She pictures telling the doctor this. Then decides against it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\u2019s tried to explain medical sensations before with terribly banal results. She\u2019s not sure she\u2019s ever gotten the correct treatments, but she doesn\u2019t know if it\u2019s her inability to explain, or the doctors\u2019 lack of imagination. Do they have any idea how hard it is to think and speak in analogies, similes and metaphors, and then try to convince the science-minded that something is wrong with her?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018It hurts.\u2019 isn\u2019t exactly true and neither is \u2018it burns.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She calls her sister, the nurse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pressure and a weakness with just the touch of purple pain that starts at the point where the burning match head is resting in my joint, under my skin. It glides up my leg but also ebbs and flows, like waves as the tide comes in, getting worse. Then the tide recedes. It feels like if I tried to stand on it, I\u2019d fall down. But, of course, I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nurse says matter-of-factly, while munching a cracker, a Triscuit by the sound of it, \u201cIt\u2019s nerve.\u201d But that\u2019s no explanation. What is the nerve doing? Misfiring? Dying? Sending tragic \u2018mayday\u2019 signals to a brain too absorbed in trying to describe it to understand the dire nature of it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPins and needles, right?\u201d says the nurse, swallowing what has to be Diet Coke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo\u2014fireworks, but tiny. Sparklers along the inside of my leg. It fizzes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah. That\u2019s nerve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo what do I tell the doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNerve pain in your leg. Starts at the knee and goes up to the hip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo I tell them about the tides of pain? Do I mention the fizzes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust say it sometimes aches and you get pins and needles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCan I say it throbs?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCan you walk on it? Can you carry on a conversation while it\u2019s happening?\u201d Another Tricuit splinters and dies through the phone line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, yeah, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust say \u2018aches\u2019.\u201d There is a swish and slurp of soda, then, \u201cListen. It\u2019s not a big deal. You don\u2019t have to call the doctor yet. Wait and see if it happens again. Anyway, lunch is done. I gotta go. Bye.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She looks at the dead phone in her hand. She hasn\u2019t even mentioned the growing, no burgeoning, pressure with mild navy blue pain spilled into it that waxes and wanes behind her ear on the left side. That\u2019s surely something malevolent. She pictures an air bubble in a pipe. She pictures the sketch of the elephant inside the snake that Antoine de Saint Exupery drew. She pictures the bulb of a frog’s throat. None of these are right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She thinks of her husband, another nurse, saying, \u201cWell, my urine has been dark. I just want to get checked out, so we\u2019re running a couple of tests.\u201d Tests that revealed the large dandelion puff of malignancy that would have stayed hidden for a couple more years if not for his mindful attention to his body. She thinks of the two extra years they had before another, more deadly, pappus drifted and settled into his colon. Those two almost perfect years. A gift born of self-awareness and early medical intervention. Because he had used the right words. He had described his physical symptoms in exactly the right way to make the doctors see and understand that something was not\u2026 Well, not right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She rubs the back of her neck on the left side. She mentally examines her left knee, trying to sense weakness or pressure. Is it significant that they are both on the left? It’s definitely sinister. She allows herself a wry chuckle. Sinister\u2014of, on, or toward the left hand side. Would the doctor even get that?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\nJennifer Wade Hesse<\/strong> won\u2019t tell her daughter how old she is. But suffice it to say she\u2019s old enough to have interesting experiences to write about and young enough (at heart) to think she might still be able to learn some new tricks. A middle school Gifted and Talented teacher from Louisville, Kentucky, Jennifer is also a step-mom, mother, dog mom and devoted wife who does everything with her full heart if not full attention. She\u2019s thrilled to be included in this issue and looks forward to continuing the search for the right word.
<\/summary>\n<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<\/a>Read “Big Dairy Called…<\/a>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Read “The Mermaid Riot<\/a>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Read “The Bead Collector…<\/a>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jennifer Wade Hesse Issue 16 Flash Fiction It feels like someone is pressing a match against\u2014no under\u2014her skin. Like her skin is a thin blanket, and if she peeled back the corner, she\u2019d reveal the burning match stub pressed up against her joint. She pictures telling the doctor this. Then decides against it. She\u2019s tried to explain medical sensations before with terribly banal results. She\u2019s not sure she\u2019s ever gotten the correct treatments, but she doesn\u2019t know if it\u2019s her inability to explain, or the doctors\u2019 lack of imagination. Do they have any idea how hard it is to think and speak in analogies, similes and metaphors, and then try to convince the science-minded that something is wrong with her? \u2018It hurts.\u2019 isn\u2019t exactly true and neither is \u2018it burns.\u2019 She calls her sister, the nurse. \u201cIt\u2019s a pressure and a weakness with just the touch of purple pain that starts at the point where the burning match head is resting in my joint, under my skin. It glides up my leg but also ebbs and flows, like waves as the tide comes in, getting worse. Then the tide recedes. It feels like if I tried to stand on it, I\u2019d fall down. But, of course, I don\u2019t.\u201d The nurse says matter-of-factly, while munching a cracker, a Triscuit by the sound of it, \u201cIt\u2019s nerve.\u201d But that\u2019s no explanation. What is the nerve doing? Misfiring? Dying? Sending tragic \u2018mayday\u2019 signals to a brain too absorbed in trying to describe it to understand the dire nature of it? \u201cPins and needles, right?\u201d says the nurse, swallowing what has to be Diet Coke. \u201cNo\u2014fireworks, but tiny. Sparklers along the inside of my leg. It fizzes.\u201d \u201cYeah. That\u2019s nerve.\u201d \u201cSo what do I tell the doctor?\u201d \u201cNerve pain in your leg. Starts at the knee and goes up to the hip.\u201d \u201cDo I tell them about the tides of pain? Do I mention the fizzes?\u201d \u201cJust say it sometimes aches and you get pins and needles.\u201d \u201cCan I say it throbs?\u201d \u201cCan you walk on it? Can you carry on a conversation while it\u2019s happening?\u201d Another Tricuit splinters and dies through the phone line. \u201cWell, yeah, but\u2026\u201d \u201cJust say \u2018aches\u2019.\u201d There is a swish and slurp of soda, then, \u201cListen. It\u2019s not a big deal. You don\u2019t have to call the doctor yet. Wait and see if it happens again. Anyway, lunch is done. I gotta go. Bye.\u201d She looks at the dead phone in her hand. She hasn\u2019t even mentioned the growing, no burgeoning, pressure with mild navy blue pain spilled into it that waxes and wanes behind her ear on the left side. That\u2019s surely something malevolent. She pictures an air bubble in a pipe. She pictures the sketch of the elephant inside the snake that Antoine de Saint Exupery drew. She pictures the bulb of a frog’s throat. None of these are right. She thinks of her husband, another nurse, saying, \u201cWell, my urine has been dark. I just want to get checked out, so we\u2019re running a couple of tests.\u201d Tests that revealed the large dandelion puff of malignancy that would have stayed hidden for a couple more years if not for his mindful attention to his body. She thinks of the two extra years they had before another, more deadly, pappus drifted and settled into his colon. Those two almost perfect years. A gift born of self-awareness and early medical intervention. Because he had used the right words. He had described his physical symptoms in exactly the right way to make the doctors see and understand that something was not\u2026 Well, not right. She rubs the back of her neck on the left side. She mentally examines her left knee, trying to sense weakness or pressure. Is it significant that they are both on the left? It’s definitely sinister. She allows herself a wry chuckle. Sinister\u2014of, on, or toward the left hand side. Would the doctor even get that?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2445","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It feels like someone is pressing a match against\u2014no under\u2014<\/em>her skin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Like her skin is a thin blanket, and if she peeled back the corner, she\u2019d reveal the burning match stub pressed up against her joint. She pictures telling the doctor this. Then decides against it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She\u2019s tried to explain medical sensations before with terribly banal results. She\u2019s not sure she\u2019s ever gotten the correct treatments, but she doesn\u2019t know if it\u2019s her inability to explain, or the doctors\u2019 lack of imagination. Do they have any idea how hard it is to think and speak in analogies, similes and metaphors, and then try to convince the science-minded that something is wrong with her?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018It hurts.\u2019 isn\u2019t exactly true and neither is \u2018it burns.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n She calls her sister, the nurse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a pressure and a weakness with just the touch of purple pain that starts at the point where the burning match head is resting in my joint, under my skin. It glides up my leg but also ebbs and flows, like waves as the tide comes in, getting worse. Then the tide recedes. It feels like if I tried to stand on it, I\u2019d fall down. But, of course, I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The nurse says matter-of-factly, while munching a cracker, a Triscuit by the sound of it, \u201cIt\u2019s nerve.\u201d But that\u2019s no explanation. What is the nerve doing? Misfiring? Dying? Sending tragic \u2018mayday\u2019 signals to a brain too absorbed in trying to describe it to understand the dire nature of it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPins and needles, right?\u201d says the nurse, swallowing what has to be Diet Coke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo\u2014fireworks, but tiny. Sparklers along the inside of my leg. It fizzes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah. That\u2019s nerve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo what do I tell the doctor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNerve pain in your leg. Starts at the knee and goes up to the hip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo I tell them about the tides of pain? Do I mention the fizzes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust say it sometimes aches and you get pins and needles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan I say it throbs?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan you walk on it? Can you carry on a conversation while it\u2019s happening?\u201d Another Tricuit splinters and dies through the phone line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, yeah, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust say \u2018aches\u2019.\u201d There is a swish and slurp of soda, then, \u201cListen. It\u2019s not a big deal. You don\u2019t have to call the doctor yet. Wait and see if it happens again. Anyway, lunch is done. I gotta go. Bye.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She looks at the dead phone in her hand. She hasn\u2019t even mentioned the growing, no burgeoning, pressure with mild navy blue pain spilled into it that waxes and wanes behind her ear on the left side. That\u2019s surely something malevolent. She pictures an air bubble in a pipe. She pictures the sketch of the elephant inside the snake that Antoine de Saint Exupery drew. She pictures the bulb of a frog’s throat. None of these are right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She thinks of her husband, another nurse, saying, \u201cWell, my urine has been dark. I just want to get checked out, so we\u2019re running a couple of tests.\u201d Tests that revealed the large dandelion puff of malignancy that would have stayed hidden for a couple more years if not for his mindful attention to his body. She thinks of the two extra years they had before another, more deadly, pappus drifted and settled into his colon. Those two almost perfect years. A gift born of self-awareness and early medical intervention. Because he had used the right words. He had described his physical symptoms in exactly the right way to make the doctors see and understand that something was not\u2026 Well, not right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She rubs the back of her neck on the left side. She mentally examines her left knee, trying to sense weakness or pressure. Is it significant that they are both on the left? It’s definitely sinister. She allows herself a wry chuckle. Sinister\u2014of, on, or toward the left hand side. Would the doctor even get that?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Jennifer Wade Hesse Issue 16 Flash Fiction It feels like someone is pressing a match against\u2014no under\u2014her skin. Like her skin is a thin blanket, and if she peeled back the corner, she\u2019d reveal the burning match stub pressed up against her joint. She pictures telling the doctor this. Then decides against it. She\u2019s tried to explain medical sensations before with terribly banal results. She\u2019s not sure she\u2019s ever gotten the correct treatments, but she doesn\u2019t know if it\u2019s her inability to explain, or the doctors\u2019 lack of imagination. Do they have any idea how hard it is to think and speak in analogies, similes and metaphors, and then try to convince the science-minded that something is wrong with her? \u2018It hurts.\u2019 isn\u2019t exactly true and neither is \u2018it burns.\u2019 She calls her sister, the nurse. \u201cIt\u2019s a pressure and a weakness with just the touch of purple pain that starts at the point where the burning match head is resting in my joint, under my skin. It glides up my leg but also ebbs and flows, like waves as the tide comes in, getting worse. Then the tide recedes. It feels like if I tried to stand on it, I\u2019d fall down. But, of course, I don\u2019t.\u201d The nurse says matter-of-factly, while munching a cracker, a Triscuit by the sound of it, \u201cIt\u2019s nerve.\u201d But that\u2019s no explanation. What is the nerve doing? Misfiring? Dying? Sending tragic \u2018mayday\u2019 signals to a brain too absorbed in trying to describe it to understand the dire nature of it? \u201cPins and needles, right?\u201d says the nurse, swallowing what has to be Diet Coke. \u201cNo\u2014fireworks, but tiny. Sparklers along the inside of my leg. It fizzes.\u201d \u201cYeah. That\u2019s nerve.\u201d \u201cSo what do I tell the doctor?\u201d \u201cNerve pain in your leg. Starts at the knee and goes up to the hip.\u201d \u201cDo I tell them about the tides of pain? Do I mention the fizzes?\u201d \u201cJust say it sometimes aches and you get pins and needles.\u201d \u201cCan I say it throbs?\u201d \u201cCan you walk on it? Can you carry on a conversation while it\u2019s happening?\u201d Another Tricuit splinters and dies through the phone line. \u201cWell, yeah, but\u2026\u201d \u201cJust say \u2018aches\u2019.\u201d There is a swish and slurp of soda, then, \u201cListen. It\u2019s not a big deal. You don\u2019t have to call the doctor yet. Wait and see if it happens again. Anyway, lunch is done. I gotta go. Bye.\u201d She looks at the dead phone in her hand. She hasn\u2019t even mentioned the growing, no burgeoning, pressure with mild navy blue pain spilled into it that waxes and wanes behind her ear on the left side. That\u2019s surely something malevolent. She pictures an air bubble in a pipe. She pictures the sketch of the elephant inside the snake that Antoine de Saint Exupery drew. She pictures the bulb of a frog’s throat. None of these are right. She thinks of her husband, another nurse, saying, \u201cWell, my urine has been dark. I just want to get checked out, so we\u2019re running a couple of tests.\u201d Tests that revealed the large dandelion puff of malignancy that would have stayed hidden for a couple more years if not for his mindful attention to his body. She thinks of the two extra years they had before another, more deadly, pappus drifted and settled into his colon. Those two almost perfect years. A gift born of self-awareness and early medical intervention. Because he had used the right words. He had described his physical symptoms in exactly the right way to make the doctors see and understand that something was not\u2026 Well, not right. She rubs the back of her neck on the left side. She mentally examines her left knee, trying to sense weakness or pressure. Is it significant that they are both on the left? It’s definitely sinister. She allows herself a wry chuckle. Sinister\u2014of, on, or toward the left hand side. Would the doctor even get that?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2445","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Jennifer Wade Hesse<\/strong> won\u2019t tell her daughter how old she is. But suffice it to say she\u2019s old enough to have interesting experiences to write about and young enough (at heart) to think she might still be able to learn some new tricks. A middle school Gifted and Talented teacher from Louisville, Kentucky, Jennifer is also a step-mom, mother, dog mom and devoted wife who does everything with her full heart if not full attention. She\u2019s thrilled to be included in this issue and looks forward to continuing the search for the right word.
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