Graceful Disaster

I threw my keys onto the table next to the front door. I couldn’t believe today. It didn’t feel real to me. Stupid fender benders, stupid company’s who replace me so easily and stupid (gorgeous) egotistical guy who cared more for his car than for my well being. The Pop Tart box on top of the fridge was calling to me, so I walked into the tiny kitchen and pulled out a foil packet before vaulting over the back of my couch and ripping into the package.

As I bit down I realized that I needed to look for another job. These tasty bits of fake pastry full of sugar grams wouldn’t pay for themselves. Neither would the apartment I called my abode. I glanced into my bedroom and saw my laptop on top of the pine green comforter and debated if I had the energy and self-esteem to look for another job so soon.

I harshly bit into the frosted pastry and chomped as I thought about the jerk that had made me lose my chance at a good (paying, not interesting) job. He was the reason my day had turned out so craptastic. Slouching into the cushions, I decided to procrastinate and turn on the TV. After a few minutes of mind-numbing infomercials I decided to have the self-pitying bubble bath a little early.

I hauled myself off the couch and trudged into the bathroom. Now the tub was a little tricky, the hot tap had to be turned on all the way quickly then turn on the cold knob slowly while slowly turning the hot knob off until they were just about the same. I poured half a bottle of bubbles into the stream of water after I tested my wrist under the water. I stared as the bubbles quickly sprung up and filled the entire smooth surface of the tub. When I found the bath suitable, I pulled my hair onto the top of my head, slipped out of my clothes, and into the warm water.

I could feel the tension of the day slide off my shoulders as the warm water enveloped me, supported me. I leaned my head back onto the folded up towel I always had there on the edge of the tub. There were only two sections of wall surrounding me, one by my head and the other by my right side. The section by my right touched the side of my arm lightly as I placed my arms on the edges of the tub and sank slightly lower into the water.

My knees were just above the bubbles like two pink whales coming up for air. I gazed at them when I realized that I had just called my legs “whales”. I lifted them out of the water and scrutinized the limbs. They weren’t like whales at all; they were lean and muscular after fourteen years of ballet and martial arts. They weren’t the gentle giants of the sea! They were more like…the alpha female of a wolf pack. Or the most powerful and lithe lioness of the pride! I lowered them back into the water with a slight splash. I’m so pathetic…

I lay in the water for a few more moments before I finally felt a pulse of exhaustion course through me. I wanted to stay in the warm, liquid blanket and just go to sleep. So I let myself relax and closed my eyes, letting my thoughts drift off to nothing…

But I didn’t get to sleep. My cell rang shrilly from the front table opening my eyes harshly. I let out a huff of air and stared out the open bathroom door on my left. I was hoping that whoever was calling would have enough sense to just leave a voicemail and not call again. Alas, the person was not that bright and had decided to keep calling me over and over again. I made to pull myself out of the tub, but found that my legs wouldn’t budge. I growled lightly to myself, my legs must have fallen asleep…lucky them.

I figured that I would just ignore the constant tone and try to enjoy the last of the warmth that water was giving me. I began to lower myself, but I found that the tub was much deeper than I remembered; I couldn’t feel the bottom. My hands slipped from the side and the water swallowed me whole. I was stuck to the bottom, I thrashed as I tried to get to the top. I reached as far up as I could and found that my fingers barely broke the surface. Panic escaped me along with bubbles and I watched them float up while I kept frantically swimming.

I finally gave up and sat on the bottom, staring at the bathroom above me as the water distorted its shapes into whatever pleased it. A face appeared in the room above me, it peered down in the water curiously. Its hand reached into the water and I noticed that it belonged to a man. It grabbed my upper arm and—

I sat up in the tub, gasping. A bubble had gone up my nose and had woken me before my head had slipped into the water.

Quickly, I heaved myself out of the water and rolled over the lip of the tub and onto the bath mat. My lungs burned as I gulped in grateful amounts of air and pulled my legs to my chest. My body shivered in the colder temperature of the room and the water rolled off my bare skin. I groped for a towel by my head and draped it over my naked form, trying to gather my thoughts.

I felt every muscle in my body screaming for the bed as I wrapped the towel around me and got up from the floor. Instead, I walked to the front table and picked up my phone, holding down a number and placing it to my ear.

“Hey Kara, it’s me, could you come over? I almost died.”