Guy--Part Thirty

Splog # 123

Thirty 

   Guy stood frozen, wondering what could have happened to cause such a violent reaction from the voice, which only seconds ago had been calmly giving him advice on relaxation. He tentatively turned his head in various directions to see if there was something approaching that he should be aware of. His newly-acquired underwater vision showed a landscape of sand and seaweed and stones. But everything seemed placid and unthreatening. A glance above him showed only a vast undulating firmament that made him think of being at the bottom of a bowl of jello. And in all that space he saw nothing that would have caused the voice to respond in such an extreme fashion.

   And now Guy found his breath accelerating and becoming more and more shallow. He was panting and, as he did so, bubbles resumed dancing about him and then floating away overhead. After a moment of this, his breath stopped suddenly and then drained completely out of his lungs in a long drawn-out sigh. This continued longer than he would have imagined possible and then his lungs slowly filled again and his respiration returned to normal.

   Guy waited a short time in hope of some explanation. When he finally decided that none was forthcoming, he made a gentle attempt to elicit one.

   "Excuse me, is there anything wrong, sir?" Pause. "Did something happen to you?" Pause. "Are you hurt?" Pause. "Is there anything I can do for you, Mr. Spa - "

   "DON'T!" he cut himself off before he could complete the moniker. "DON'T! DON'T! Don't!" Each command was uttered with slightly less vehemence. on a somewhat lower pitch and with less volume.

   Guy found himself again inhaling deeply before the voice started its hurried chattering.

   "I do beg your pardon. I'm afraid I must have startled you out of a year's growth. Oh my, my, my. This will never do. But - well - I - I wasn't prepared. I just didn't think that it could happen. Well, maybe I did. Maybe I always expected it to happen and then told myself that it never could so that I would feel better and then actually came to believe that that was the truth. And it never did happen so I was right. Well, I was right until it did happen and all of a sudden I saw how wrong I was. But who could ever have thought that it would happen? Could and would and should. Well, not should. Never should. But did. Yes, it did. It happened and I was a fool to think that it wouldn't. I really should have seen it coming. Sooner or later. Yes, I have to admit it to myself. Sooner or later it was bound to happen. And it did. It happened and it can never un-happen. From this moment on, it always will have happened and nothing can be done about that. Except to go on as if nothing had happened."

   The voice stopped for a moment and Guy, who desperately wanted to know what had happened, took a breath to make the inquiry.

   "That is ridiculous. Going on as if nothing had happened. It happened. The thing to do is to try to prevent its happening again."

   Guy's head nodded a few times before he resumed.

   "Again, I must apologize. I've been behaving badly. After all, you weren't to know. We've only just met and, as brand-new acquaintances, we must make allowances for each other's - well, just for each other. We would never purposely be rude or hurt each other's feelings. We just have to be open and above board and talk through any gaffes or faux-pas."