Emotion Flash Fiction - I'm Hearing Voices - Final Day

I have enjoyed these last few days so much! Hello to all my new followers, I hope you like what I have to say! I promise I'll get around to checking out everyone who commented and followed me, and everyone who entered the 'fest, but I just didn't realise how hectic my 2nd week back to Uni could be!

Thanks goes to Cassie and Angie for this amazing blogfest. It's been super fun!

Now, my emotion is a little unorthodox. There's a bit of a debate on the internet as to whether 'loneliness' is actually an emotion, but I've made an executive decision and for the purpose of this blog, it is. Without further ado, here is the flash fiction. Enjoy!

She felt sorry for me, the waitress, as she cleared away the cutlery from the other side of the table set for two. It was the way she looked at me, with her almost imperceptible smile and the haste with which she lowered her eyes from mine.

I knew that making friends in a new place would be difficult, but I had never anticipated this. At first, I tried to pretend I didn’t care. But eventually, it gets even the strongest of us, sucking life like a parasite. It starts off slow, but builds up, and up until the roar of silence that surrounds you is deafening. Mid-afternoon, while innocently placing a coffee order, I realised that the only soul I’d spoken to all day was paid not to ignore my existence. The thought left me hollow, and cold.     

Inside my head, my consciousness struggled to compensate and, instead of actually having them, I begun to imagine the conversations I would have. The highlight of my week was my Sunday night call from Mother.

“It’s great”, I lied, my pride refusing to permit the truth. I had been so desperate to unfurl my wings and fly. Perhaps if I’d known that my fate was, instead, to fall, I wouldn’t have been so eager. I would grasp at straws, teasing out every morsel of conversation that I could before her inevitable goodbyes.

As the waiter passed, I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked for a message that wasn't there.

Word count: 250. Like a boss.

Sarah x