Candice quickly pulled a tissue with lotion from the box and just made it to her nose when a sneeze exploded. “Arrggh,” she folded and blew and tossed the tissue onto the respectable pile on the floor beside the sofa.
Dabbing her weeping eyes with another tissue, she picked up the book she was reading. The end table light was on; she had closed the blinds. Daylight from the window beside the sofa was too bright. She turned the page.
“Damn!” and she threw the book across the room. Her husband, Jason, looked up from the Sunday paper.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m miserable. This has got to be the worst allergy season on record. My eyes hurt. They feel like an entire sand bank is in them. I’ve rubbed my eyelids so much, even with the lotion tissue, they feel crispy. The bags under my eyes are swollen halfway down my cheeks and look like you’ve been punching me. Why don’t novels ever mention people dying from allergies! There’s no passage describing the hero having been found because he sneezed. Nothing about the boy being totally turned off by his love’s runny nose.”
She grabbed another tissue, “Ahchoooo.” Candice dropped the tissue onto the ever growing pile. “And my nose is raw, inside and out.”
Jason put the paper down. “Did you call the doctor Friday?”
“Yeah,” she drank the last of the water in her glass. “I’m already taking everything she has. I can’t get another allergy shot for a month.” She sank back onto the pillows. “Would you get me another glass of water, all of my moisture is coming out my nose. I’m so thirsty.”
Jason took the glass, returning a minute later with a glass full of water and ice.
“Oh thank you,” Candice snuffled. “It’s like all my energy is gone.”
“It’s a shame you don’t feel well,” he opened the blinds, “it’s such a gorgeous day.”
She recoiled from the sunlight as though she were a vampire. “Please! Close the blinds. The light hurts my eyes.”
He sighed and pulled them closed, “How’s that?”
“Better,” she put her hands on the cold glass, then over her eyes, “thank you.”
“Can I do anything?”
Candice sneezed again, barely getting the tissue in time. “No, unless you can cut down every pine tree in the Southwest.”
“No sweetie, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be allowed to do that.” He went back to his chair and picked up the paper.
“Pity.”

The End
414 Words
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