Aurora 2024

Aliyah Orten

Stomach Pains 7

I get frequent stomach aches. I never second guess, though, never consider that pain could have multiple meanings. I step lightly into the nurse’s office where she asks the same question every time.

“Did you eat breakfast this morning?”

“Yes,” I say, thinking of my mother who never lets me leave for school without a full stomach. This morning, she said it’ll help me focus, as I forced those last bites of soggy cereal down.

“What did you eat?” asks the nurse.

“Cereal,” I say. She responds by explaining that cereal digests quicker and that is why I don’t feel good before lunch. Her cure is passing me three saltine crackers from a sleeve she keeps in her desk drawer. While eating the crackers, she tells me to lie down in one of the beds.

“Your stomach will rest this way,” she says.

Laying on my back, I stare up at the cardboard ceiling tiles and count all the dots I can see. The longer I stare, the more I convince myself I am seeing things. Things like an ocean view, the comfort of my bedroom, or the

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