SOPHIA’S 1,000 VOICES

The cold tiles of the room sent shock waves up her bum to her spine and then her brain but her mind was just too numb to feel anything. Her mind was crowded causing a standstill traffic for her nerves to feel anything; her head was a symphony of a thousand voices, all of them talking at the same time. She could hear all but she couldn’t listen to what each was saying.

She wanted a life for herself, a not so luxurious life but just a life that she could define as one befitting of a young single woman. She wanted a life that didn’t require her to sell her sanity in exchange for comfort. A life that didn’t demand of her to trade her self esteem. A life that didn’t cajole her into the den of lecherous ogling eyes and tongues.

Sophia stood up and walked to her mirror. She loved her mirror. She loved it because, whenever she looked into it, she saw her mind. It wasn’t just a mirror; it wasn’t mystical either. It was indeed a mirror to her soul. She loved it because it knew how to comfort her with the fact that she wasn’t ordinary. Without words, it told her that she was unique, different and weird.

Standing there, she thought about her major problem; regaining sanity.

She thought out loud to herself, “Sanity is priceless, sanity is expensive, sanity comes at a price and sanity could be lost if not secured” In her case, she was at the verge of losing hers and she was fighting so hard to protect what remained of it. “How exhausting” she sighed.


She dragged out her shisha pot from the side of her bed. She added her usual mixture, lit it up and took a long drag from it before puffing out the aromatic substance. With eyes half closed, her senses reeling with gratitude for finding release, she sank to the floor again; her pipe in her hand. She took another drag, exhaled, another drag, exhaled and another and another again until the only thing she could see was the fog that had clouded the room. Then she started smiling. It wasn’t a smile of contentment; it was a smile that came in place of the tears that had maliciously stayed stuck to her tear glands, teasing her eyes but refusing to let go with dignity.

Sophia looked at the pipe which had turned her companion overtime and said to it;

“For every human is a being with a thousand voices saying, telling, yelling, soothing, warning, cajoling, advising, scolding, sweet talking but rarely listening because we do the listening. We were created to be the listeners”

The pipe slipped from her grip and slowly, she crawled into her bed  and held on tight to her pillow like the sanity she’s fighting to secure.