a tiny white spot on the MRI
right in front of the brainstem
wrapped around the third cranial nerve
on the left hand side
stole his childhood
worse than any evil character in myth fable or reality
my youngest son
was incapacitated by recurrent headaches
pain so bad he had no words to describe
inoperable
not amenable to chemo or radiation
none of the medications helped
sometime in the sixth grade
he went really dark
the headaches became constant
he avoided interaction
covered as much of his face as possible
in a dark green hoodie over a black Punisher T shirt
black denim pants black socks black shoes
he slept as much of the day as possible
spoke in a whisper and never spontaneously
he rarely went to school
the only world in which he found some peace
was superhero comics movies and TV
shows his knowledge in this area was encyclopedic
one day he came to me saying he was very sad
not unusual but unusual to say so
he spoke in his whisper that he finally had to admit
there is no Parallel Universe
where there would be a kid just like him
only with no tumor no headache
who he could find a way to travel to
and experience being that kid

I had no words