Daily story, January 1, 2025

I had been staring at the wall for half an hour, finding faces and animals and horrors in the wallpaper, finding the places where it repeated and being unable to forget them. The wall now looked like great clumsy tiling, the same sheep and rabbits and demons again and again. I wanted to rip it all down, or splatter it with paint, or simply set the entire waiting room alight. When my name was finally called, they would have to treat me for the wallpaper-induced migraine first. I was so glad I had left my phone at home.