# Chopsticks

By [yojoo](https://paragraph.com/@yojoo) · 2023-09-30

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I‘m ill

Two chopsticks grew on my hand,

Just like the familiar brown-red pair we use at home,

with slender tips,

they grew on my right hand,

crossing in my palm.

They don't hurt normally,

But when I try to bend them,

they ache.

So,

I have to hold them every day,

open my hand,

then grip them again,

open,

grip,

open...

One day,

on the street,

A stranger stopped me,

someone I didn't know,

Tall, thin,

with semi-long curly hair,

smoking a cigarette.

He asked if I had any money,

I said no.

He noticed,

I was holding something in my hand,

And asked what it was.

I said it's chopsticks.

Why are you holding chopsticks

he asked.

I'm not holding them

I replied

they've grown on my hand."

He didn't believe me

And insisted on prying my hand open to see.

It hurt a lot,

I asked him to stop,

but he wouldn't.

He pried my fingers apart,

one by one……

Snap!

The chopsticks fell on the ground,

And

I had nothing in my hand

anymore.

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*Originally published on [yojoo](https://paragraph.com/@yojoo/chopsticks)*