2 posts tagged with "Bureaucracy"

K. stood in the Comprehensive Student Services Hall, clutching the crumpled receipt in his hand like a useless map. The air hung thick with a peculiar mixture of disinfectant and old paper. He needed to return a skirt—a pale lavender pleated skirt he had never intended to buy, yet which had somehow materialized in his shopping bag. It should have been a simple task, like erasing a misplaced punctuation mark, but he quickly discovered that what he was trying to erase might be an entire, incomprehensible text.

Doctor Xiao first realized something was wrong on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon. He had just finished a not-too-complicated surgery and was taking off his sweat-stained mask when the head nurse handed him an unsigned grey envelope. The envelope's texture was unusually stiff, its edges sharp enough to seemingly cut a finger. "Someone left it at the front desk, said it was for you, must be opened personally." The head nurse's voice carried an unusual note of caution.