registration

I dropped into the doctor’s office without an appointment because I felt my ailment had worsened and it qualified as a semi-emergency. I got there just before the newborn baby. A very newborn baby. The mother carried it there accompanied by two other women. The mother needed to find the paper about the baby because the nurse asked for it, but the mother left the paper at home, so the two women went home to get it for her. The baby made tiny ung ung sounds while they sat and waited for the paper (and I was reading Alice in Wonderland the whole time. First time reading it. Had been meaning to read it for the longest time. Picked it up from the bookstore yesterday for my long-weekend reading. I’m at the part where the Cheshire cat’s head is hovering above the queen and the soldiers as they debate whether the floating head could be beheaded). The paper came. The nurse asked why the baby’s name is not on it. Boy or girl, she asked. Girl. Name? Mandy. It sounded as though the mother thought of the name on the spot. Are you sure, the nurse asked, I’m gonna write it! The baby made ung ung sounds. Had no say over nothing. Little soul doesn’t get to decide her name, and who does? The nurse filled in the form and the baby was registered. The women sat with Mandy as they waited for the doctor. This is what I saw. This is all I wrote today.