The waiting room was silent.
The faces of the people around me were bricks—solid and still.
I sat next to my father, waiting to be called.
Soon after, a woman walked in and spoke my name.
I dragged my feet on the ground and paced towards her.

As I went through the hall, I was curious as to what would happen to me.
The first destination was the place where I would get my x-ray.
I looked around and saw dark, bleak surroundings with a computer and a machine.
I sat in a stiff chair and tilted my head as the woman operated the machine.
Afterwards, I saw two photos of my jagged and spaced teeth.
Within a few minutes of waiting, I was called in for my procedure.

I sat myself down and adjusted my head towards the light.
The only sound that I heard was the clinking of tools.
In an instant, parasites attached themselves to my teeth.
Then a snake wrapped around each parasite and writhed around.
As the snakes poked into my gums, a beak snipped part of each one off.
Yet they continued to writhe.

Little did I know that
those snakes and parasites
would live in my mouth for two years.