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Authors

Lisa Pettit

Keywords

creative writing, essay, chewing ice, The Art of Chewing Ice

Document Type

Essay

Description

Begins with a mild case of anemia exacerbated by pregnancy, preferably beyond the first trimester nausea which can be made worse by cold water or chewing ice. Disregard the slight anemia your OB tells you about and nod your head when she suggests iron pills. Attempt to take the pills but stop when they make you sick. Decide your craving is exactly that, a bone-deep need to fill your mouth with frozen pebbles and hear the crunch of them between your back molars. Fill your purple, BPA vacuum insulated tumbler three-fourths with ice then top with water. Sip for the next three hours, sure to pump the plastic straw regularly in order to break up the melting ice and create a debris of chewable shards on the bottom. When the last sip of water is consumed, shake the tumbler, jab the ice with your straw, then uncap and begin to pick off the pieces one by one. You know every crunch could weaken your enamel, break a tooth, leave you with dentures one day, but you don’t care. Be somewhat amazed by this apathy, this indifference that leaks into the rest of your life, especially to the life physicians say burgeons in your belly.

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