A Brief Glimpse of Purgatory

Sisyphus was condemned by the gods to perpetually roll a rock up a hill only to see it roll back down again. Tantalus was forced to stand - forever - in a pool of water that disappeared every time he leaned down to take a drink while a bunch of grapes hung over his head and pulled the same trick when he reached up to grab them. Prometheus was chained to a rock and every day an eagle came to eat his liver; he could do it every day because his liver grew back every night. I have a house full of food and a growling stomach. I also have a tongue and lip that I can barely feel (Thank you Dr. Dentist!), tempting me to try to eat something. Surely if I'm careful, I won't bite myself. And if I do, I won't feel it - right? I was eating leftover macaroni, but the second bite had me wondering if it had magically turned into a medium-rare steak - because only one of those choices has blood in it, and that was definitely what I was tasting. I think I'll just stick to coffee with a medicinal drop or two of Bailey's in it for a few hours.