His sinuses, previously just stuffy, became a vast, arid canyon. His nostrils flared open with a kind of chemical efficiency that felt almost aggressive. He could smell the dust in the radiator. He could smell the neighbor’s burnt toast two floors down. The pseudoephedrine was working. It was just working elsewhere .

“Day 9. Ear still clogged. I have accepted the mono life.”

He smiled, turned up his headphones, and listened to the rain fall equally in both ears.