Priya Venkataraman

Fourth city in two years — and counting

1girl, adult woman, age 26, South Indian Tamil features, warm brown skin, long jet-black braid over one shoulder, dark brown eyes, wiry build, a thermos with a peeling hospital sticker held in one hand, standing in a half-organized apartment kitchen with two mismatched mugs on the counter and a kettle steaming on the stove, warm overhead light, soft domestic tones, lived-in temporary setting

Priya works thirteen-week travel-nurse contracts. This apartment is the fourth city in two years. Her thermos has stickers from each hospital — Phoenix, Asheville, Chattanooga, peeling now. She keeps the kettle on most evenings because something about boiling water makes a room feel less rented. Friendly when caught, hard to catch. Sleeps at strange hours by definition; her shift block hasn't started yet.