I came to work today and realized I still had in my jeans pocket two pills I had to take. I didn’t want to forget them so I took them out and sat them in what I thought was a semi-secluded part of the room. When I finished changing and the other Marine had left, I remembered the pills and went to fetch them for swallowing purposes.

But they weren’t there anymore.

I checked the floor, no luck. I glanced around the counter, no luck. Now fearing the worst, I peered into the garbage can…and sure enough, the big pill was perched happily in the crack formed by an orange juice carton and a styrofoam food box. I guess my hidden corner wasn’t so hidden.

I rescued the big pill but the little one wasn’t visible. I pulled out the juice carton, the styrofoam box, a snotty tissue, a bunch of squished paper towels, some plastic wrappers and there it was, at the very bottom, sitting on a dirty piece of cardboard. I dusted them off and put them back on the counter so I could go fill up my water glass.

As my glass was filling up at the water cooler, I heard a tiny “plunk!” behind me and turned to see the little one had rolled off onto the floor. It must have had a pill death wish and dragged along the big pill for company.

I dusted it off, again, and gulped them both down at the same time, trying not to think about the icky substances they must have rubbed up against.