Barbara was a cold, precise woman. She craved order, and relished in the familiarity of her morning routine. Every day, she would make a cup of black coffee, sit in the spot of sunlight that filtered into her kitchen at 7am, and watch the news. Perhaps it was the break from her usual routine that had woken her up in a bad mood.
The day previously, she had sat down for her usual morning coffee. She had been enraptured with learning about the latest trend in custom home renovations on the television when the ‘event’ had occurred. A frown had formed on her face before her mind could keep up. She had wiggled her toes. A squelching noise had responded. Half-asleep, she had glanced down and discovered her fluffy pink slippers were drenched.
Her beautiful kitchen had a disastrous leak. Water dripped from the faucet, pooling over her marble countertop and staining her white tiles a muddy brown. The entire day had been dedicated to finding the best professionals for kitchen renovations around Melbourne.
She was satisfied that she had found a reliable team of experts who could treat her remodel with care. However, it did little to settle the queasy feeling in her stomach. She still had to live with the leak for the rest of the week. Perhaps this unsettled atmosphere was the reason she had initially brushed off the strange noise the following morning.
Having already woken up unhappy, she had barely noticed the gentle sobbing at first. That was until she wandered into the kitchen. The sobbing was unbearably loud inside. Upon investigation, she followed her ear to the kitchen drain. Her first thought had been a burst pipe. Great. That might mean calling in for a bathroom renovator as well.
After several moments of pressing her ear into the sink, she realised that the sound was a far cry from a plumbing noise. Someone really was bawling. She stood up, glancing around nervously. “Hello?”
A small, melancholy voice called back from the sink.