================================================ ACCOUNT SETTLEMENT — FINAL

     Issued to: The Customer
     Issued by: Nine Years
     Date: Tuesday
     Transaction type: Non-refundable

================================================ ITEMS TAKEN QTY COST

Capacity for trust, baseline 1 4 yrs (original condition: intact) (returned condition: see notes) (notes: not returned) Sleep, continuous — 4 yrs @ 3am, recurring @ 4am, recurring
@ whenever the door (unit of measure: discontinued) The ability to be in a room 1 ongoing without locating the exit (exits located: all of them) (time to locate: <4 seconds) (this has not resolved) Voice, full volume 1 early (reduced to: functional) (reduced to: careful) (reduced to: only when spoken to) (recovery: partial, ongoing) Appetite, standard 1 yr 3 (body's protest noted) (body's protest overruled) (body kept the receipt) The word "fine" used honestly — all of them (current usage: performance) (fine means: I have assessed the room and made a calculation) (this is not what fine means) (this is exactly what fine means) Certainty that raised voices 1 yr 1 are not your fault (refund requested: denied) (refund requested: denied) (refund requested: denied) (you stopped requesting) Three friendships, quality 3 yrs 2-5 (method of loss: slow) (method of loss: unreturned calls) (method of loss: you stopped explaining and they stopped asking) (nobody's fault) (several people's fault) The version of you that 1 yr 2 did not check the tone before speaking (last known location: before) (status: missing) (case: open) Four years in your thirties 4 irreplaceable (condition: spent) (condition: cannot be reissued) (note from accounting: we are aware) (note from accounting: there is no reissue process for years) The ability to receive 1 yr 4 a compliment without immediately locating the catch (catch located: always) (catch present: sometimes) (sometimes is enough to ruin always) Your handwriting, pre- 1 yr 3 careful (it changed) (handwriting changes when the hand has learned to be quiet) (you didn't notice until you did) The specific laugh 1 yr 2-ish that started before it was polite (returned: partially) (returns: on good days) (good days: increasing) (billed regardless) Two apartments you left 2 see notes before your lease was up (notes: not about the apartments) The shoulder (left) 1 chronic (cause: documented) (resolution: pending) (years carrying: 9) (weight: unspecified) (weight: you know the weight) Faith in your own 1 gradual perception (erosion method: slow) (erosion method: persistent) (erosion method: you always misremember) (erosion method: that's not what happened) (erosion method: I never said that) (current status: rebuilding) (rebuild rate: slower than the erosion) (rebuild rate: still) One wedding, potential 1 yr 6 (note: this is the one that doesn't go on the receipt because you are supposed to be grateful it didn't happen) (note: you are) (note: it still cost something) (note: receipts don't care about supposed to) The original answer — ongoing to "are you okay" (current answer: fine) (see: fine, above) (see: the whole receipt)

SUBTOTAL: see body ADJUSTMENTS: none available DISCOUNTS APPLIED: none

================================================ TOTAL COST:

          [the register is still calculating]

          [the register has been calculating]

          [the register will let you know]

          [the register is sorry for
           the delay]

          [the register notes that some
           transactions do not produce
           a final total]

          [the register notes that this
           is one of them]

================================================ PAYMENT METHOD: Time. Body. Silence. The specific silence of a woman who has learned that speaking costs more than it returns.

                     Years.

                     The good ones, mostly.
                     The register notes
                     the irony.
                     The register has opinions.
                     The register keeps them
                     to itself.

PAYMENT STATUS: Collected in full. Without your authorization. The authorization was assumed. This is not how authorization works. The charge went through anyway.

REFUND POLICY:

All sales final.

Time is non-refundable.

The shoulder may or may not resolve. The register cannot advise on this.

Trust can be reissued but will arrive in a different form than the original. Please allow years for delivery.

The laugh is coming back. The register has noted this. The register considers this the only line item moving in the right direction.

The register is rooting for the laugh.

================================================ KEEP THIS RECEIPT FOR YOUR RECORDS.

You will keep this receipt.

You have always kept this receipt.

You keep everything.

This is either your damage or your superpower and the register has decided it is not qualified to make that determination.

The register suggests you decide.

The register notes you are already deciding.

The register notes you have been deciding since Tuesday.

================================================ Thank you for your survival. Please come again.

      (You will not come again.)
      (The register knows.)
      (The register is glad.)

================================================Total: still calculating. It will always be still calculating. That's not a malfunction. That's the only honest answer a receipt can give for this particular transaction. The total doesn't balance. It never will. You didn't take out a loan. It was taken. The register has noted this in the permanent record. The permanent record is this.