Trick or Treat and Four Letter Words

Here's the thing.

An upper abscessed tooth can be ( once you get past the pain and fever and inability to eat ) almost endearing. Your face swells like a chipmunk and people tend to smile and there-there-poor-baby you.

A lower abscessed tooth ( same caveats as above ) simply swells your jawline wickedly out of alignment and twists your face and mouth into an unnatural grimace. Your lips don't meet at the right places and people tend to step back and oh-my-god you.

I have had, for the last four days, the latter, spending my days and nights in ragged tears in a hot bath tub with steaming compresses pressed to my face, gulping antibiotics and uselessly hoping to die. But for the kindness of my dear friend Tricia who brought chocolate milk and pudding and soup, but for the lack of health insurance, I would've checked myself into the ER and prayed to be put into a chemical coma for the duration. I do not handle pain well. Not only that, I'm so mad at missing a photo shoot I could cry if crying weren't such a bad idea.

It's Halloween and I've run out of four letter words.