WEBVTT

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"Pillbox."

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"Originally given to
Gloria by her mother,

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it was just a small gift
accompanying something larger.

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That larger thing is
lost; that larger thing

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could have been a sweater,
an ocean liner, or a promise.

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For more years than
anyone remembers,

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Gloria kept the pillbox on her
vanity, near her hand mirror.

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These were the days of long,
cream-colored Oldsmobiles--

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cars designed as living rooms--

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and glass-bellied lamps
with womanly curves.

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The rosewater and the Chanel No.

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5 mingled with the faint smell
of yesterday's gin martinis,

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and the wet smell of this
evening's in particular.

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The pillbox did not
hold the actual pills

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she took, one after the
other, three at a time,

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washed down with that
same gin, her stockings

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off but her blue chintz A-line
dress still on, her pearls on,

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her Moroccan bracelet
on, her earrings on.

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The pillbox, with its
porcelain top and gold braid

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edge, with its haughty bouquet
of never-ending odorless

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flowers, simply bore
witness, vessel essence

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intact, emptiness untampered
with, sightless eyes open."

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