Mitchell continued his search for the dry milk. He found it next to the imported tea, and then walked quickly to the checkout counter. He hoped that he could check out fast, because if that woman finished her shopping and then stood in line behind him, he would simply walk out of the store without buying anything. The checker slowly rang up his bill, took Mitchell’s money, and gave him his change. It was 11 p.m. Mitchell did not look around as he walked out of the supermarket. He wondered if he would ever get that woman’s face out of his mind.

When he got into his car, he felt ashamed of himself. That poor woman, he thought. She probably never ventured out in the daytime. She probably did everything she could to avoid people. That was truly a face that even a mother might not love. She must feel so lonely. How could God let that happen to people, Mitchell wondered.

Long ago, there were colonies for outcasts. Lepers, for example, lived in leper colonies, where they had social contact with their peers. But there are no “wart colonies” for people covered with facial warts. They have to exist with “normal” people.

“She should try duct tape,” suggested a coworker of Mitchell's the next day. “I saw them demonstrate it on TV. You just stick it on the wart for 48 hours, and your wart disappears!”