Volume 2 ... Number 28
THE ANTS GO MARCHING TWO BY TWO
Or, a visit to Niels
By Ada Kerman (in consultation with corinne joy)
"Only two visitors at a time,"
said the woman behind
the desk. She showed us to the lobby
and went to tell
corinne and eric that other people wanted to see Niels.
In the lobby, an argument started about
who would go in
and who would get to go first. Before it was settled, Niels
came to the door and was engulfed in a crowd.
Niels, wearing his turquoise and
green tie-dyed shirt
backwards over his blue sweatpants, beckoned the first pair
(Jesse and Beyond) to his room.
When it was my turn, we went into
a room with washing
machines and a weight machine. "Nice room you have here,"
I
said. He agreed. He showed
me his new white plastic
bracelet. He said when he saw Karin's he just had to
have
one like it.
Niels accompanied me to his "real"
room. Three walls
were painted a cream color. The fourth was
yellow. The
trim matched his hair. Niels was the soul-occupant.
The
room was larger than his double in Aurora.
"I want to get a letter
from everyone," said Niels,
pushing a braid off his forehead. "I'11 write to the
first
three people I get letters from."
Later, as Niels was padding
along the hall in socks
with rubber treads, I asked him if he'd write to people who
sent him self-addressed stamped envelopes. He said
it was
likely.
FLASH UPDATE: (by corinne joy)
Niels has been transferred to McLean's
Hospital until
Tuesday, when he will hopefully be
accepted into the
hospital in Keene. The phone number for the new hospital
is
(617) 885-2548.
* Please write letters
anyway, just don't mail them
until his address is certain! *
The comics are made possible by a grant from Jon McGee.
The corporate sponsor wishes you to know that
he did not
dedicate these comics.
SELECTED BY JON (Dedicated
to Jennifer Cusack)