Miss Patel's Story Time Assessment Centre

Sage Tyrtle

I walk through the snow, wearing my mask towards the Covid-19 Assessment Centre. Taped to the window are yellow construction paper ducks, fluffy clouds. The door is open. Miss Patel says hello and welcome. Are you here for Story Time Saturdays? We're reading Granny's Sari. My son waves his hands in the air. YES YES. The security guard checks his clipboard, looks at my health card. Nods. We are ushered in. The security guard gestures to the cheerful blue and green carpet/folding chair. On the wall, the lion still frolics with the bumblebee and I show my son the rainbow arcing over both of them. We can smell alcohol wipes and Play-Doh. The cold cement floor chills through the soles of my shoes. A doctor, wearing a yellow construction paper isolation gown, a mask, and a plastic face shield says, Granny's favourite sari was a very special one. If you just lean your head back, I'll insert the swab into pictures of a forest painted on it will only be for five seconds. The swab feels like when I get water up my nose in a swimming pool. After the story/test, the doctor hands us cookies and a special number to check the results. I walk home through the warm summer afternoon, holding my son's hand.

Sage Tyrtle is a storyteller whose stories have been featured on NPR, CBC, and PBS. She is a Moth GrandSLAM winner. When she was five she wanted to be a princess until her dad explained that princesses live in a dystopian patriarchy, so she switched to being a writer instead.

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