Endure

by Alex Moody

There is a brand of hand sanitizer called “Endure.” You use it, and you endure these things: swine flu and economic hard times; literary theory; downstairs neighbors, their adamance rising through the kitchen linoleum; muddy first drafts; drive-through lanes in a creaky car with one working window, and that window is on the passenger side; high school acquaintances and pictures of their cakes and children in a Facebook news feed; the destabilizing shape of a goat’s pupils as it stares at you through metal bars. Slather yourself in glittering cool protective hand sanitizing gel and slip-slide through the day. Squish it in your eyes and wash away the visions. Fill your ears and mute the world. Endure.

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Alex Moody is a writer living in Nashville, Tennessee.