Daily story, October 19, 2024

I was starting to worry that somebody would recognise my shoes. I told myself: if somebody recognises your shoes from under the door of a toilet cubicle, then they’re the weird ones. But when the door’s been locked for twenty minutes maybe it’s not weird to check there’s someone in there, and they haven’t passed out.

And I would never know, because they wouldn’t say anything. If a person has a reason for locking themselves in the toilets for half an hour, it’s generally not something you want to hear about. Maybe I should be glad not to be asked any awkward questions. But if you don’t get asked them, it means people are making up their own answers.

After a while, it was all quiet. I flushed, just in case anyone was still there, and went out to face them: those lovely people, who want nothing but the best for me.