My mother and aunt are talking Grandma's kitchen. Mum is asking C if my brother gave her a good shoulder massage.

'To tell the truth, it wasn't that good. He just sort of prodded me for a while and left me feeling sorer.'
'You should tell him it wasn't good enough. People shouldn't be able to get away with that. Make him do it properly. After all, now you're in touch with the Infinite, you have the power to face these things.'

I'm in the bathroom while they talk, looking at my hair in the mirror. Dandruff, bald spots. I look closely at the scalp. It's horrible, blotches of white mould everywhere, the flesh soft and liquid underneath. There's a giant mouldy crater towards the front of my head, with a dark lip of skin around it. I gingerly part the hair to look at it and feel disgusted - it's like a soft sea of white. I notice there's a small aluminium teaspoon sitting in there. I brush it out, let it fall to the floor, wondering if it's this foreign body that has caused the mould. Maybe my scalp will heal now that I've removed it.


Then this scene begins again - I'm in the bathroom while they talk, looking at my hair in the mirror. Dandruff, bald spots. I part the hair to see how bad it is. There are scabby wounds all over. I look at the top of my head - the crown is completely bald. I'm shocked that I have been walking around looking like this and I start to cry. I'm shouting at my relatives - why didn't they tell me? Why did no one say anything? They don't answer but I can see from their faces that it's because there was nothing that could be done.