Recession

It all begins with a drop in body temperature. The air suddenly turns cold and the body begins to shiver. It jerks like an engine on the verge of shutting off. To save strength, the body wraps itself in any warm piece of clothing. The jitters never stop, and one's breath scorches anything it touches. The skin freezes to its icy state and the body crumbles to conserve heat. With eyes half closed, and senses, delirious, time passes and the involuntary shaking ceases. The mind wakes up, only to find the body in searing heat. It untangles itself from the bundles of clothing it used to warm itself. Sweat is required but the glands never produces. Instead, the body suffers from hundreds of tiny imaginary meteoric bombardments - the muscles stirring from its precipitous state. The joints ache and little invisible cracks in the bones form. As the body attempts to move - to seek intervention from synthetic compounds that strike the malady in its heart, sweat dribbles from the skin. It forms tiny droplets of water that restores balance in ones broken organic machine.

A strange lull descends, making the body believe that the recession is over. Intermittent groans break the silence as the body adjusts from its fetal position. Except for a few barks that lurches the chest forward, a deep breath to catch some tepid air, a heavy head that must be leaned somewhere and an occasional yanking to push the phlegm that got stuck on the throat.

Everything appears normal.

Until the cold spell returns, and the body temperature drops again.