I came for my back. I stayed for the twelve minutes of quiet at the end.

The teachers never once made me feel like the new person. Even though I was.

My Sunday-night dread has gone. I do not know how, and I do not want to ask.

Six months of Thursdays. I still do the breathing on the school run.

Forty-five minutes, back at my desk by two, calmer than the morning.

The room is warm, the blankets are heavy, and nobody talks about goals.