Invisible
The radio came on at the usual time. She rolled over, put her right arm under her pillow and her left on top. Then she sighed. Next to her the bed was cold. Typical, she thought, he could’ve woke me.
It took her less than ten minutes to get herself vertical, pull on the grey, fluffy dressing gown and clean her teeth. That done, she turned to face her morning expression in the poorly lit mirror. What the f…, she thought. She blinked and looked again. Nothing. Well, not nothing exactly. She could see the dressing gown reflected clearly enough, the watch too, on her left wrist. But that was it. She looked down at her feet. They were there, but then, so were her hands. In the mirror, however, there was nothing. Am I vampire? Not a completely stupid first thought. After all, she lived on a TV diet of True Blood and Being Human. She had an idea.
Slipping off her dressing gown and removing her watch, she called down to her husband. She could hear him in the kitchen, swearing at the cats. When he heard her shout, he came up to see what she wanted. “Yeah?” He was in the bedroom, she was still in the bathroom. “Where are you, babe?” He was on the landing now and she was intrigued to find out if he could see her. She checked her reflection once more. Nothing. No dressing gown or watch either. “Stop messing about, will you! I’ve got to get going, don’t want to catch the traffic!” She involuntarily put her hands over her ears as his voice boomed almost straight into her left lobe. She held her breath and whispered, “Steve?” The effect was alarming, he pulled back, stumbled through the doorway.
“For fuck sake Karen! That’s not funny…”
“Am I laughing?”
“Where, where are you?” He was looking right at her now.
“In front of you. Steve, I’m a bit, well, scared.” Her small voice quivered a bit. She fought back tears, reached out for the toilet roll. “Oh. My. God!” He watched as the toilet roll unravelled a little and a small piece tore itself off. “You’re really, I mean, I can see you!”
“Really?”
“Well, no, not you exactly. The loo roll is moving though. I can see it in your hand!” She brought it up to her nose and delicately blew. “Don’t cry Karen! Please. This is cool!”
“How, Steve, can this be cool? I’m invisible and I have an interview in one hour!”
“Well, yes, but think about the fun you can have? Seriously babe, you can go anywhere!” He stepped toward where he thought she must be, “You can go in early, watch all the other interviews before yours. You’ll finally get to know what the Director wants and then the promotion is in the bag! God, babe, it’s like a gift!”
*
Well, she did go in early. She did listen in on the interviews. But how was she supposed to attend her own? No one could see her, except herself. Feeling low and a bit put out by the whole invisible thing, she made her lonely way home. No one stopped her to ask for change. No one offered her a smile that would’ve cheered her up. She just ambled along. Home to where she could relax.
As she opened the door, she could hear Steve upstairs. He was fucking the neighbour again. She sighed and someone beside her sighed too. She looked round.
“Hello,” she said. A ghostly figure, tall, sexless yet peaceful, raised it’s hand in greeting.
“Is this because I said that I felt invisible?” It nodded.
“Hmm. Well, that won’t solve what I already knew in my heart.”
It shook its head.
“Well, old friend, let’s do it!”
*
By the time she had reached the landing, outside her bedroom door, she was fully restored. Standing in the doorway, naked apart from the spectral dagger now clasped in her right hand, she whispered his name again, “Oh Steve…”
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