CHAPTER 8: HOSPITAL

CHAPTER TYPE: REACTION

"A beloved child has many nicknames, as the Finnish saying goes. But a lot of those nicknames for this place are not given in love or adoration, but in desperation and disgust. One that I am particularly fond of is 'hullujenhuone', the room of the insane. That's what we call it when we are there, too. One of my roommates once said this to me as she was getting ready to go out for a smoke for the fifth time that day: 'This place is so fucking boring the only option you have is to become a chainsmoker so that you won't go completely insane. Though, that's what we all are here.'

And I understood her. But a part of me has always liked being there. Maybe that's what makes me even more insane than any of my roommates ever were. Because who would willingly stay there, if they had the option to be free? I can't give you an answer to that question. I have checked myself in voluntarily every single time, but I still don't know. And I know I will do it again. And again. And again. Gladly."