The fear was ferocious; Insecurity her foe.

Hi Ink Well Lovers;
A short post for me this week, playing with a personified antagonist.

Cover image created in CANVA using elements.

As far as buttons go, the snooze button should best be imagined as rather submissive. Not just for its inability to argue with Claudia’s heavy fist, but as a consequence of the way it slumps into its obedient silence. Yet, the resilience of the button should not be overlooked, especially given the way it continues to prompt the woman in the bed next to her.

But resilient is not how Claudia would imagine her nemesis this morning. She hit the button once more and pulled herself out of her contorted cocoon of paisley sheets. Bent-double, she groped her way towards the small bathroom adjacent to her bedroom. Her small apartment still shrouded in artificial darkness; blinds holding the edge of the windows tightly – not to allow light to offend the dishevelled woman who was about to stare back at Claudia in the mirror.

She gasped.

The woman in the mirror gasped in reply.

Last night she had thought the heavy eye makeup had made her look glamourous; she imagined herself conjuring a vampiric trance which would lead to all the men at the bar, the Piccolo’s Armchair, to buy her drinks innumerable. And they did – but all the intoxication could not dull the jarring enemy which she seen staring back at her.

That beast, was Insecurity – a fickle foe who fumbled freely in the minds of the fierce and the feeble. A ferocious fiend who found her flare in the fragility of the frightened, who looked at themselves with doubt. Claudia was not timid in either her work nor her social dealings, but there was always doubt. Her mother would tut, ‘Where are my grandchildren?’, and her friends would quip, ‘Who’s the newest beau?’ while settling themselves into another year of their long term relationships. Claudia had nice cloths, and her handbag collection could feature in any high end fashionista’s wardrobes, yet – the designer scarfs and beauty treatments would never hide what she saw that morning.

She saw herself; her unruly hair giving her pause to reflect, and that’s when Insecurity struck! She forced Claudia to unfavourably find in herself the fluff and the facts which would make her feel fucked. Insecurity formed a frame around her façade and her fabulousness felt a little frail. In short, she was afraid of the future.

Stuck to the spot, Claudia could not find it within herself to move, and she stood there for minutes, allowing her breathing to come back into a normal rhythm. She was prompted by her daze by a high pitched beeping – it rocked her from Insecurity’s immediate grasp, and it took her back into the present. The snooze button was once again beckoning her to start her day – with a lethargy conjured by the beast, she trudged back into her small bedroom where she properly disarmed her alarm clock, lifted the covers and went back to bed. This was not going to be her day.

The fear was ferocious; Insecurity her foe.