Palm Reader at the Vitamin Counter

The fluorescent lights of the pharmacy flickered as Elena stood before the wall of supplements. Her hands trembled slightly—whether from the **vitamin** D deficiency the doctor had diagnosed or from something else entirely, she couldn't tell anymore.

"You're going to buy the wrong one," came a voice beside her.

Elena turned to find an elderly woman with eyes like cracked glass, studying her with unsettling intensity. "Excuse me?"

"Your **palm**," the woman said, taking Elena's hand before she could pull away. "You're not sleeping. The lines are blurred—worry lines, even though you're only twenty-eight. And this one..." Her finger traced the life line. "It's faint in places. You're running on fumes, aren't you?"

Elena's throat tightened. "Are you a palm reader now?"

"I'm a night pharmacist, honey. I see things." The woman released her hand. "The expensive vitamins won't fix what's actually wrong."

"And what's actually wrong?" Elena challenged, though her voice wavered.

"You're drinking too much **water**. Six, seven bottles a day. I can tell by your skin—washed out, trying to flush something out." The woman's expression softened. "Or maybe flush something away."

Elena's marriage had ended three months ago. Richard hadn't hit her or cheated; he'd simply stopped seeing her, like she'd become transparent. So she'd started running—literally. Ten miles a day, washing down supplements with liter after liter of water, trying to sweat and purge herself into someone new. Someone visible.

"I'm just trying to be healthy," Elena said.

"No," the woman said, selecting a bottle from the shelf. "You're trying to disappear. But here's the thing about disappearing—it works better when you don't track every step." She handed Elena the cheapest bottle of vitamin D on the shelf. "Save your money. Spend it on something that doesn't come in a plastic bottle."

Elena bought the cheap vitamins. Then she bought a ticket to somewhere she'd never been, somewhere without fluorescent lights or well-meaning strangers who saw too much. For the first time in months, she didn't reach for a water bottle. She just let herself be thirsty.