Where do you go when you’ve never seen the world?

_Tuk. Tuk. Tuk. Tuk._

Careful, they said, else you’ll get stuck like them.

She listens to her breathing. The air against her nostrils. The exhale is just enough to shift the candy bar wrapper in her lap.

_Tuk. Tuk. Tuk. Tuk._

She notices her shoulders feel tight, so she forces them away from her ears. Relax, she tells herself. She feels the breaths in her chest. The rib cage expands and contracts. Slow your breathing, she tells herself.

_Tuk. Tuk. Tuk. Tuk._

__

__

Why does she have to go? She was perfectly content in her little village. Who cares if she doesn’t have children? As the thought comes to her mind, so does the answer. She just wishes she didn’t have to wait so long. Just get it over with.

She looks up. High ceilings. Square white lights. She looks away and sees blue spots. _Tuk. Tuk. Tuk. Tuk. _The spot in her back between her shoulder blades tenses up. She bounces her knee at the speed of a cheetah. Her shoulders rise to her ears.

“Can you please stop tapping the table?”

All eyes dart to her. The knuckles lift up and rest in the lap. “Thank you,” she sighs, finally meeting her eyes;

Not a her. The person does not look like a woman. Her shoulders tense up again. She hears her breaths. Square jaw. Lump in neck. Wide shoulders. She didn’t realize she’d meet a man before even getting there. This is the waiting room. She isn’t prepared. She isn’t prepared. She isn’t prepared—