So there was this person who existed. They existed in a way that allowed them to be noted as existing, but often they would go through life not recognised or having attention thrown their way, and that’s the way they liked it.

What they didn’t like was when someone found out that they had… the coldest of shoulders.

You see, this person was no one out of the ordinary, aside from how fascinatingly cold one of their shoulders was, and this caused no end of strife for them. Or at least did at one point, and only did at certain other points. They had to learn to navigate the world with this issue, and how to set things up that would prevent people from discovering this. Certain ways o9f dressing, moving about… you know, all those things.

When people would find out, they might react with shock or some sort of discomfort. Others might use the shoulder to chill some food or freeze something, depending on all sorts of things and situations and the like. And it was not something that this person liked. They wanted to be able to just fit in and live life, and instead they felt that they were spending most of their time just getting through it and trying to avoid people.

Of course there were some that knew and did not spend time obsessing over this odd bodily situation, but some was the amount it always stayed, and in that group of people, few had just accepted it and moved on. Most had to go through the process of fascination at first, and whilst they became steadfast friends later on down the track, the person seldom felt at ease.

Of course this made it difficult for them to hold a job they could work comfortably too, for they’d often be at risk at having the shoulder discovered. However, they felt it difficult to work jobs that didn’t require them to be in an office or somewhere else, as whilst they had an apprehension toward people, they also felt a yearning to be accepted as just a person and nothing more. They felt a desire to be around people and just fit in, despite it not happening.

Now, despite their desire to be seen as regular, they had accepted that they had this shoulder that could make things cold and freeze things, and was quite often cold to the touch. They had accepted that it was part of them, and it wasn’t so much that they hated it, but rather they hated how they’d be treated because of it. They hated that people would usually react the way they would, and that they’d be seen as a thing that represents something rather than another person trying to navigate through life and hopefully not screw up.

And so they kept on going, trying to get through each day, trying to avoid the frustrating fascination and trying to avoid people trying to use the coldest of shoulders.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 09:11:48

So apparently I had this idea nearly 3 1/2 years ago. Saved it, forgot about it until a few months ago, procrastinated, and then decided to write about it and… yeah. Not great. I think I could’ve written longer, or not done this as a word challenge. That would’ve worked better. Still, I like the idea of having this thing and not being happy about how people react to it. Very true to life, or something.

Written at home.