A nurse came back in after the room was cleared for them, gestured at the remaining machines, and asked if they wanted the sound to be muted. They shook their heads. Alone again, he told her for the first time he’d always hated her whistling. She told him she knew.

Seth Rosenman lives in the Philadelphia area. He has taught ELA in the city and EFL in China. He currently does a bit of this and hopes to move on to some of that. His writing has appeared in The Bookends Review, Jokes Review, and elsewhere. His blog is infiniteseth.blogspot.com.