The Prompt
“It hurts,” she points yet again to her foot. Her heel. The very back of her heel to be precise. “Why does it hurt?”
I’m a doctor who has run every test I know, prescribed every exercise I know. Yet the pain persists.
I ask her again, hoping for a different answer, “Why Does it hurt? Are you sure you didn’t just bang it somewhere, against something?”
She shakes her head
I lean on my desk looking her in the eyes, “All the blood-work is fine. The results are actually neat, the way the values line up. It’s almost too good to be true. So why Does it hurt?”

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Neha Mediratta
Neha Mediratta Chaudhuri is an independent writer, editor and consultant based in Mumbai. Recently, her award-winning sci-fi story Body Count was encoded in a Nickel and Gold Nano-fiche and sent to the moon (See Lunar Codex Project).
You can find her latest short story collection Death Chips and Love Fries at Amazon.
Meet her here: www.nehamediratta.com.
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