Hummed electric

I was sitting at my desk this afternoon when out of the blue I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was so unexpected I froze, confused. When I gathered my wits and turned I discovered it was a colleague asking if I wanted a tea.

He must have witnessed something in my body language or face for he asked 'why, do you need a shoulder massage?' Again I had a bewildered moment where several answers were bitten back, before I managed to stutter out 'no, I'm fine thanks'

As he went off to the tea point, the handprint on my shoulder hummed electric. It served to highlight just how unaccustomed to simple human contact I've become. I would have told him the physical contact made me uncomfortable but there was an irrational fear in me that I'd never be held again. Saying nothing was all I could manage against the backdrop of this cognitive dissonance.

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