Photograph taken of a vet when he is pausing from giving deadly injections to goats to prevent the spreading of a disease. Source: NRC.NextHe places the injection needle beside him, on top of the fence. He slides the gloves from his hands one by one, carefully putting them in the pockets of his worksuit. He takes the red strap behind his head and pulls it over his head, removing the mask from his mouth and nose. He places his hand on his forehead, pressing it with his fingertops, before he pulls back the hood from his hair. His brown hair is folded flatly into the shape of his hood, but he runs his fingers through and it gets messy. Then he places his hands beside him, wrapping his fingers around the top bar of the fence until his knuckels turn white. He stares blankly into space, breathing in and out heavily.
When he was a little boy, one night when he was sleeping his aunt woke him up to go to the hospital. They found his parents talking to a doctor. His mother was crying and his father was looking scared. "Go see your sister", said his aunt, and she pointed towards a door. He walked into the room. It was white and had a grey floor. There were all kinds of noises. Tiny bleeps, a sort of heavy breathing, ticking and cracking. The soles of his shoes made a chrunching noise as he walked towards the bed. He looked at his sister. Her eyes were closed an there was a tube coming from her mouth. In the back there were machines lined up. There was one machine which was formed like a cilinder and there was this paper inside of it, contantly folding and unfolding. Folding and unfolding, folding and unfolding. It was fascinating. A nurse entered the room. "Hello" she said and she smiled at him. She started to make notes on a pad, looking at the machines. Then she looked at him again. "Is this your sister?" asked she. "Yes", he answered shyly. "Such a pretty little girl" she said. Normally when people would say that about his sister, they wouldn't sound like this. He didn't like the way she said it. They stood there silently for a moment. "What happens if that machine stops?" he asked, pointing at the tube with the folding paper. "It helps her to breathe. She can't do that on her own anymore." From the moment he had walked into the room a sadness had entered his body that was growing with every minute and after the nurse had said these words it became almost inbearable to him. "Don't worry", said the nurse, "All innocent souls go to heaven." She walked away. He kept looking at the paper inside the tube, folding and onfolding. He tried to breathe in and out in the same rythm, folding and unfolding his lungs. But he couldn't. He felt like he was choking.
