The Little Voice - Embraces Ambiguity

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The alarm buzzed and she stretched out her hand to quickly quieten it before it woke the whole house. The red numbers shined at her as she opened her eyes. 4:30 was such a heavenly hour to wake up.

She gently edged herself outside her bed, trying not to waken the adonis that still lay sleeping by her side. Luckily, he didn’t move and the slight rumble of his snore confirmed she hadn’t woken him. She slipped out of the room and padded softly to the bathroom.

Once inside, with the door closed, she switched on the light. She stood in front of the mirror and took a look at her reflection. She had her toothbrush in her hand and was about to automatically go through the routine operation of brushing her teeth when a flicker of light shot through the mirror.

Susan froze. Her arm was raised to her mouth holding her toothbrush. There was a slight ripple in the atmosphere and as Susan stood motionless, the room around her changed. She was still inside a bathroom but it wasn’t the one she remembered being in when she got up early this morning.

She looked at the toothbrush in her hand. It was hers. She turned around and looked at the bathroom she was now standing in. It was small and she had a strong feeling of deja vu. There was a standard sized bath behind her with a shower curtain drawn. She felt confused. She knew where she was but how had she got here?

She shook her head. This was too strange. There was then a tapping at the door.

“Sue, are you going to be much longer in there?” It was a man’s voice, one she recognised well. What was going on?

“Umm, I’ll be out in a minute.” She responded. She looked at her reflection. The woman who stared back at her was herself but different. Her face looked like one she had known for so long but was no longer her own. Her hair was long again, her face a little plumper than she was now used to. Another flicker inside the mirror. This time she saw it.

She stumbled from the basin and found herself sitting on the rim of her bath. It was her bath. She was back in her old bathroom. The toothbrush had dropped to the floor as she stumbled back and she raised her hand to her head. She felt strange; somehow disconnected.

There was a tapping at the door. “Hey, Susan, you gonna be long? I really need to go for a piss.” It was Danny’s voice.

“You can come in.” She croaked.

Why was this happening?

Danny entered the bathroom, still sleepy eyed. She looked at him and her heart lurched.

"You really gonna go for that jog? It sure doesn't look like you wanna."

She looked up at him from her seat on the bath and gave him a wan smile. "Maybe you should come with me."

And with that Danny laughed tapping his tummy. "Maybe I should..."

Susan smiled. She had never believed he might consider joining her. Why was that?

"You know, I think you're great as you are." He smiled.

"Yes, I remember you saying." And she did. She had believed he didn't want her to change. She had got annoyed every time he said it. "But will you love me when I have lost the weight too?"

"What? Of course. silly! Now are you going to leave or am I gonna have to piss in front of you?"

Susan blushed, as she realised just how much she had really missed him. "Of course, I'll leave you now..." She beamed, "but once you're done you have five minutes to get ready because we're going for that run!" Danny saluted her cheekily with a big grin on his face.

"I might not be able to keep up with you, Susie Cue."

Susan walked slowly out of the bathroom. She had been here once before. She had made one set of decisions and believed she knew what was going on in Danny's head.

She wouldn't make that mistake again.

She would, however, make many others. The thought made her smile.

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Drop in the Ocean is a weekly show over on Discord in the BuddyUp server.

You can join us anytime by clicking here. When you first arrive you will be welcomed and directed to introduce yourself. After all, we want to know who our new buddy is :smiley:.

The Drop in the Ocean airs every Monday at 8pm (UTC) and together all the buddies discuss their individual posts on the word of the week.

This week's word is:

Ambiguity

If you want a full understanding of the word, I can highly recommend reading @youhavewing's post, it certainly helped me with my own understanding.

If you found the above story at all ambiguous, you might want to read my earlier instalments of Susan's story as I covered the words disconnected and resolution. they may, perhaps, add some clarity.

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