February 2024 Flash Lit 9 (2) - Space

Space

 

Jill clenched her teeth.  Her thighs were screaming at her to move.  She snuck her eyes open and saw that there were three minutes to go.  That was fucking forever.

 

“Now keep focusing on the breath,” Sage said.  “Feel it going deep into your body and then flowing out again.”

 

Of course the yoga teacher was named Sage, Jill thought.  She named Sage’s imaginary siblings Basil, Rosemary, Thyme.  They probably grew up with cats named Parsley and Oregano.

 

“In and out.”  Sage’s voice was much closer now.  she had moved silently between the knotted students and Jill smelled her, incense-like and spicy, behind her.  Such a cliché, like the cotton balloon pants and the tie-dyed baby t-shirt with the screen printed Sanskrit OM on it.

 

“Keep breathing.  Let your thoughts drift by like clouds.  We want to create space in our minds like the space between the inhale and the exhale.

 

It was so annoying, this insistence on floating when Jill was so stubbornly stuck to the ground.  On a damn sticky mat, too.

 

“Think of it like a remote control.”

 

Sage probably didn’t even own a TV.  She probably watched the chives grow for fun.  Chive could be another sibling.

 

“We use the breath to open a gap between stimulus and response, like pressing pause.”

 

Jill, knees calling desperately for help, wanted to hit fast-forward.  Why the fuck did she keep coming to this fucking class?

 

“Two more breaths.  Breathe in peace and let all your anxiety out with the exhalation.  Breathe in peace and this time breathe peace back out into the world.  Namaste.”

 

Jill’s legs trembled as she straightened them.  Ominous popping sounds came from her spine as she struggled to her feet and rolled her mat.

 

“Good job today!” Sage said, cheerily patting Jill’s shoulder.

 

Jill smiled.