“Gout is something you get if you’re a character in a Dickens novel!” I said, looking down at my knees. “I thought I just had tendonitis!”

But all these years, the pain was inconsistent. It came and went, it then became everything I thought about. It depended if I was able to get out of bed or not. But, I did something that was important to note. I completely ignored all of the signs for it. I thought it was normal to have pain everyday with it. But with this, everything becomes numb, you get used to it, but a few days ago, is the time of how it all changed.

I woke up specifically early that morning. It was about 5:30 am, which surprised me. I never got up before 10 am most days, since my work was at night. I wasn’t sure what had woken me at that exact moment. But, I do remember thinking that I knew for a fact that something was off. I had woken up to a loud thud of some sorts. It didn’t really raise any suspicion to me, since I had really loud neighbors underneath me. But it did make me do something, to change my schedule for that day.

I wanted to make my day early this specific morning, so I could be productive before work. I sat up from bed, and looked down at my knees, something I normally dreaded every morning. They actually looked specifically good, which surprised me. But that made me have a whole new motivation to take a run.

I got out of bed and started to walk towards the kitchen. On stand up, there was a little bit of pain, but I did not think anything of it. I kept hearing those thumps from downstairs. Noisy neighbors, I thought again. When I got to the kitchen, everything seemed normal and in place. I went to the fridge and grabbed some eggs. In the back of my mind, I knew this always triggered my knee a little bit. But it is something you have to go through the pain for the gain.

When the eggs were just about done, I heard another bang, but to me it seemed a lot closer this time, actually making me jump from the sound. After the eggs were done I was going to look for the source of this noise.

I grabbed the spatula and put them on a plate with some toast that I cooked in the background. The aroma of both made me totally forget about the sounds I heard earlier and I just wanted to indulge in my eggs and toast.

After finishing the eggs, I felt a painful feeling in my knee. I knew it was coming again. To add to the situation, the banging that seemed to be feet from me was back. Out of nowhere, the pantry across the kitchen bursted open and a masked man jumped toward me. I froze in fear, not knowing what was going to happen.

When I knocked out of the trance and tried to get up, I couldn’t. My knee was too swollen. So the man walked closer to me. I gained enough confidence to say, “Why are you here? What do you want from me?”

“Wallet, now.” The masked man replied.

“I cannot move.”

“Why?”

I pulled up my pants above my knee to show him. I was all huge and purple, looking disgusting. The man looked down, and took a few steps back.

“That is disgusting, have you got that checked yet?”

“No. There is no cure, only some foods do this.”

“You have gout?”

That was when the line was said, “Gout is something you get if you’re a character in a Dickens novel!” I yelled.

“Okay, I feel bad for you. I am not going to rob you. Use the money that is in your wallet to get better. I’ll leave now.” The man responded.

And just like that, he left. I was beyond baffled. I just decided to get back into bed, and get better just like the man said. But now I know, gout is nothing to mess around with.