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Show 44 first twinge of the toothache, it was almost a relief: it took her mind away from her own thoughts. It was the following Wednesday, at work. The eye tooth on the right side, a tooth which had been filled when she was in grade school. The filling was large-on the inside, up along the gum-but didn't show. It had bothered her off and on for the past few months, but the pain had always eased away after fifteen or twenty minutes. She took a couple of aspirin and waited. An hour later the pain was still there. A dull, constant ache. She had not been to the dentist in a couple of years. Her parents had not paid for her last series of visits, she could not call her old dentist now. What should she do? It was going to cost money, no matter what she did. Her savings. Her hard-earned key to freedom. No, she would not let it go! She would not touch that, any of it. Again, that web spun of money. It held her, it blocked every direction in which she turned, it curtailed every move that she tried to make. Well, she would just wait it out. Somehow, she would see to it later. After moving. Nothing would get in the way of that. Nothing. When she got home, she tried oil of cloves on it. That seemed to help. The dull ache did not ease completely away, but it was better. And the old, sharp medicine smell was comforting. It was like when she was a little girl, sick. The smell of the medicine had never been unpleasant; she had always welcomed it, the remedy, knowing it would make her well. And always, she had gotten better. Well, she would now. She went ahead and fixed supper. It did not grow worse until late that night, after everyone was |