October 2023 Flash Lit 2 - Full Steam Ahead

This was a puzzler. After a pause, Alice began, “Well! They were both very unpleasant characters—” Here she checked herself in some alarm, at hearing something that sounded to her like the puffing of a large steam-engine in the wood near them, though she feared it was more likely to be a wild beast. “Are there any lions or tigers about here?” she asked timidly.

    “It’s only the Red King snoring,” said Tweedledee.

Through the Looking Glass, Chapter 4

 

Peace, the spa director, considered herself to be unflappable.  It was a survival skill honed by years of “home schooling” at the hands of members of her parents’ commune followed by regular American high school, where she did not exactly fit in with her hand-knitted linen sweaters and her tofu and sprout sandwiches on homegrown whole wheat bread.  Marlee, however, might just manage to flap her.

 

Peace took two deep breaths while gazing at the wall-sized photograph of ancient redwoods behind Marlee’s head before accepting the two-inch binder Marlee held out to her in her perfectly manicured hand.

 

“There is an overview of the sections at the beginning, on the sage green paper,” Marlee said.  “You’ll see that I’ve covered my nutritional needs, my exercise expectations, and my projected sleep schedule.  The large section, on the butter yellow paper, contains my questions and concerns.”

 

Peace nodded, flipping pages and reading, here and there, questions about the ionization of the air in the treatment rooms, the science regarding the pros and cons of Swedish massage versus deep-tissue modalities, the certifications of the meditation instructors, and the provenance of the organic vegetables.  Her peripheral vision, or maybe her trained sensitivity to auras, picked up the tension radiating from Marlee’s body in nearly visible orange waves. 

 

Marlee continued, “It is important to me to maximize my time here.  My doctor, who is normally extremely level-headed, practically insisted that I take a spa week to see if I could reduce my stress.  I had to rearrange a whole slate of clients and a board meeting to be here, so…” Marlee’s voice trailed off.

 

Fine, Peace thought.  We’re going to take the brutal-but-effective route.  “Steam,” she said.  “We’ll start with a session in the steam room, which will both begin the relaxation process in your muscles for the massage and open your pores for your facial.”  Peace closed the binder.  “Would you like me to recycle this for you or would you like it back?”

 

Marlee gasped.

 

“I’ll recycle it then.  The deep breath you just took should be working to lower your cortisol levels even as we speak,” Peace said.  She stood up, cupped a hand under Marlee’s elbow and led her to the locker room to trade her black sheath and heels for a terry wrap and plastic spa shoes.  Full steam ahead, she thought.