Telephobia
an abecedarian
Almost always, the anticipation is worse than the deed,
but the deed is a slow murder of
comfort. I become an irony of fluids: palms slippery, mouth
dry, heart pumping cold blood.
Every ring is a step toward the gallows. I am not attuned to
facelessness; speaking now is
grasping blind, a hand sifting through the
haberdashery drawer and catching on—
Interruption. A collision of voices, a pause, a
jittery apology. I am such a fan of
keeping my mouth shut.
Lull in conversation like a game of chicken.
Mutual awkwardness, or a
notion of it that is in fact
one-sided. How can I know? There is no
physiognomy to read, no
quality to silence distorted by static.
Remembering what was
said when you can’t hear above your own
thoughts, like flies buzzing in ears, or maybe a dial tone.
Unexpected question triggers
vascular event and I am going off script,
wracking mind, wagging tongue, saying
XYZ when certainly asked for ABC,
yearning for freedom, for conversation to
zip along, for my finger on the big red button, for triumph.
About the Creator
Lex Cee
Sometimes I put letters on a page and they start to mean things.
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Reader insights
Nice work
Very well written. Keep up the good work!
Top insights
Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Comments (4)
I like how tight the speaker feels, and the halting words reflect their anxiety nicely! “Lull in conversation like a game of chicken.” is a great line😊
Very well done! I totally relate to this! Congrats on the recognition!!! It was well deserved!
WOW! This is so well done! I felt the discomfort build with each carefully crafted line!
Beautiful 💛💛