we're naked, wet, and sweating.
i'm sitting in the dry sauna at the local ymca and the woman sitting next to me is about the size and shape of a large polar bear. she's speaking to the person across from her, a tiny, elderly woman with a thick brazilian accent.
"it drains the fluids." said the polar bear, pointing at her neck.
"drains de flooeds?" asked the tiny brazilian.
"yeah."
they both contemplated the fluids for a couple moments.
"i get fluid build up around my neck and it pinches on my spine."
the polar bear shifted her weight.
"they say that it's therapeutic to go into the sauna. the workers compensation pays for it you know. because of the car accident."
"de car acceedent..." the brazilian woman repeated, playing the perfect dean martin to this jerry lewis tale of woe. i kept listening with my eyes closed, the heat boiling into my brain.
"i work in a psych ward for violently disturbed patients. sometimes they rough me up, you know. that's how i broke my arm last time. this time i was in a van with them and we were driving on this really narrow, windy road. i don't know what happened, but all of a sudden we had no brakes."
"no!!"
"yes!! the brakes were totally gone! we couldn't get the van to stop, so we had to crash into the side of the road. the van flipped over and over but we didn't go over the cliff. all the patients were screaming and panicking and we were all upside-down."
another woman entered the sauna. she looked around the room, beaming at everyone.
"oh! how hot!" she exclaimed, as if she didn't quite understand the concept of the sauna. she settled herself down between the polar bear and the brazilian.
"so! does the heat do good things for you?" she looked at the polar bear.
"it drains the fluids."
"the fluids?"
i oozed out of the room, too tired and hot to listen to the story of the fluids again. the polar bear's voice trailed away behind me as i closed the door. <3.20.00>
all words (c) filmfatale industries 2000