The Mundane
She tilted her head back and let whip cream stream into her mouth while taking a bath. There was low scratching at the bathroom door and then whimpering.
“Go away Baily,” She yelled through a mouthful of cream, “I’m not giving you any.”
There was a sniffing sound, and then another whine, before the shadow of the dog turned and became a lump against the door. Charlette sighed sinking deeper in the bath water. Life was one of those things she did out of obligation to finishing.
The nice thing was that she wasn’t married and had no children to burden with her life’s philosophy, which meant the only one inconvenienced by it was Baily. It would have been wrong to truly claim it a burden as Baily had a plethora of toys, went for walks at least six times a day, and enjoyed any number of furnishings as her bed. This also came with ample board as Charlette made Baily’s food to fit the dietary needs of a lively bull terrier mix and didn’t subject her to kibble or canned gelatin.
It really wasn’t that Charlette wanted to have a depressive view of life. She was happy with her secretarial position. She enjoyed the calm work environment with its copious amounts of free caffeine. Her apartment was large and comfortable, especially for the area, and boasted of rent control. Her dog, though mildly spastic, was truly the image of man’s best friend. Everything was exactly as she could have possibly dreamed up to this point. Everything that is except for herself.
Her body was as she wanted it. Her hair, clothes, even her nail length she kept a certain way. It was her all around satisfaction that was low. She sometimes imagined what life might have been if things had worked out differently. If she had a different job, or she had married her college sweetheart like so many others. But these were images that just wouldn’t develop. She couldn’t imagine them.
She sunk into the water letting her hair pool around her face. Some of the heat had left, even so the water-maintained warmth enough to make the experience pleasant. Feeling terribly ungrateful she played with ideas. Like what if she had been smart enough to marry an old rich man. Or what if there really was a world of nonsense on just the other side of a looking glass, wouldn’t that be preferable to here? As she imagined these morbid little things the water cooled around her until there was hardly any ambient warmth save that which was in her own body. It was the only truly fun game she played with herself. A long blink at the ceiling, she closed her eyes and imagined she was floating forever in empty space.
Eyes opening, she stood water pouring from her hair and skin. Taking a towel, she dried herself wrapping it around her hair before dressing in loose pajamas. Opening the door, she found Baily waiting for her, a thick tail wagging happily as her eyes met her owner.
Charlette bent down petting the bulky head with a smile, “Waiting for me long smoogy, hum? Come on then let’s go.”
The dog followed her to the couch in the front room taking a seat beside her. Pretending things that never could be, however odd it seemed for a woman of her age, gave life a breathable air. She smiled petting the coarse fur relaxing into her seat. It didn’t matter if life was always perfect or beautiful, what mattered were little things, normal things. She smiled taking the remote turning on the tv forgetting her dissatisfaction for the moment, perfectly please to have the world just the way it was.
End
Thank you so much for reading everyone!!
Prompt Sentence: She tilted her head back and let whip cream stream into her mouth while taking a bath.
Word Count:625
©DecemberKnight 2022
Special thanks to Agnese Luecka from Pexels for the use of the image!
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