it is hard not to eavesdrop on neighbouring conversations. the ear is tuned to seek patterns. once you learn a language, you cannot unlearn it. you go from noise to words, to gist to full sentences. suddenly the hum is no longer humming, the buzz is no longer buzzing, and you can no longer turn off the people around you.
***
“i’m sorry,” the woman said, peering deep inside the other woman’s body.
“it’s okay,” the other woman replied.
when a little piece of you is removed, she thought, you cannot follow that piece; you can only hope that it will be looked at carefully, with eyes that you yourself do not possess.