My Arm

I remember we were in the middle of a heatwave and I was headed for the bathroom to take a cold bath since we didn’t have air conditioning. As I approached the bathroom I caught my reflection in the mirror, and I noticed my arm— I don’t know why, I just remember noticing it. I looked away, probably into Sam’s room—it was kitty-corner to the bathroom in that house—but then I looked back into the mirror again and my arm was gone. I started to scream. Sam rushed in from the backyard, terrified, and she started screaming too. The neighbors ended up calling the police. That was a few months ago now. I’ve gotten a lot of help since then. The medication’s helped a lot, but I’ve also had to put in a lot of work— a lot of work. I have a ways to go still, but I’ve started to come to terms with the fact that I never had an arm. —And next week they say I can start having supervised visits with Sam.