Next Week

by Mira Martin-Parker


She hugs me. She tells me to take off my clothes and lie down on the table, under the sheet. She pokes me with needles and says I need to stay in the present. She says I wear too much black and that my butt channel is blocked. Let’s unblock the butt channel, she says, laughing as she opens a pack of needles. I scream. I guess that one’s done its job, she says, laughing again, as she pulls out another needle. You need to drink more water. Add lemon to it. Ten pints day, but you’re a little small for that. Try eight instead. She squeezes me here and there. Does this hurt? Here? Here? What about here? She tells me about a magician who only performs for other magicians. He’s a master, but he doesn’t do it for the money. She rubs my ears and she rubs my scalp. She asks me the name of my son. She tells me to let her know when the moxa begins to burn. I scream and she removes the moxa. She tells me how to prepare greens with coconut oil, maple syrup, soy sauce, Sriracha, and sesame oil. I try to remember this. She laughs and tells me to roll over. She rubs my neck and lower back. She sticks more needles in me. Breathe. Breathe! she says. No more writing about your past. Your world is you. You are the god of it. There are no other people, just you. Breathe. Drink water and cranberry juice mixed with flax seeds. Come to my tai che class. Breathe. And stay in the present. Remember, those thoughts are not useful. Read the street signs and notice the names. Notice everything new. Soak your feet in Epsom salt. Meditate. Eat mostly fresh fruits and vegetables. Grains constipate, they make you hot. You are too hot. We need to cool you down, so no more hot sauce. She pounds my neck, then removes the needles in my back. Take your time getting dressed, she says. She gives me a bottle of round ball barring-like pills on the way out. Eight, three times a day. And breathe. Stay in the present. No more writing about the past. She hugs me. Next week, same time. 
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Mira Martin-Parker earned an MFA in creative writing at San Francisco State University. Her work has appeared in various publications, including the Istanbul Literary Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Mythium, and Zyzzyva. Her collection of short stories, The Carpet Merchant’s Daughter, won the 2013 Five [Quarterly] e-chapbook competition.