I Feel You

Mirror-touch, new prompt and upcoming events.

I’ve always been squeamish.

Not about spiders or snakes, though there are summer days when a slither in the grass makes me yelp. (After the initial surprise, I’m interested. I want to understand how it operates, what constitutes its snakedom.) I mean about pain. My own, yes, but most often, the pain of others.

I’m not unique in this. I don’t say it to win the crown for Most Empathetic. I mean, the sensations I feel when I see blood and injury feel not quite normal. I have to monitor what I see in the daily news. I have to stop reading certain novels that outline medical procedures. I boycott most movies. (We end up watching Chicken Run again. Even though the chicken pot pie machine scene is a hard one.)

This is selfishly motivated. When I see violent images, my own body feels attacked. I have to curl up on the couch like a hedgehog. I…