Object Inspired Piece - Second Draft: The Bath Foam

The tub water ran, faucet shaking slightly as water gushed out. The water was a pale, murky yellow from the lemon velvet bath foam; bubbles were forming. A foot donning light pink toenails stepped into the tub, shortly joined by the other. The feet were attached to a pair of long, tan legs; the woman they belonged to was curvy and conventionally attractive, but enchanting all the same. She had stormy eyes-- grey with blue specks-- and she sported a beeline honey bob. These features got her numerous opportunities, until recently.

She disrobed herself-- quite literally, as she took off her bathrobe-- and lowered herself into the foam water. She closed the cap to the bottle of bath foam, glancing at the bathroom door.

Eleonora was her name. She was 20 years old, and lived in a crummy apartment with a crummy lock in Florida. She was going to school to get a teaching degree as a back up plan; hopefully she wouldn’t need to fall back on it, and her cheesy (and a dime-a-dozen) romance novellas would take off.

Truth be told, she wouldn’t have a career as an author, but she won’t have to be a teacher, either. And no, before you think of it, she won’t be getting an “M-R-S” degree.

She won’t make it to tomorrow, as a matter of fact.

Eleonora's day started as normally as it did every day; wake up, eat breakfast, brush her teeth, get ready for school, go to class, then go to work. All of it was normal to the point that the day breezed by for her, and before she knew it she was locking the doors to the library where she worked. It was 9 pm on a Thursday and the downtown streets were as quiet as his breathing.

The walk home was quiet. Nothing happened. She jangled her keys as she walked up the stairs to her apartment, deciding to bother with the lock. She jiggled the knob, stepped into her apartment, and locked the door as she shut it. She took off her coat, set her purse on the floor, and slipped off her shoes. She rolled her shoulders and she walked through her apartment, eventually undressing herself. She made her way to the bathroom, rummaging through her medicine cabinet to find the bath foam. She unscrewed the cap, poured some into the tub beneath the faucet, and turned it on. She left it to remove her makeup in the bathroom.

When she returned, the tub was full. She turned it off, stepped in, and laid in the tub. She glanced at the bathroom door, sighing. She reached out of her tub to turn off the radio, and cranked it. The shabby and thin walls were shaking with how loud it was; she couldn’t hear a thing. She closed her eyes and relaxed, almost as if she was melting into the tub.

She didn’t hear the loud bang as her front door was slammed open, the lock not proving to be effective. She didn’t hear the footsteps down the hall. She didn’t notice the bathroom door opening. She did, however, notice when a pair of calloused hands wrapped around her neck and choked the life out of her. Her lifeless body sunk deeper into the tub as the man stood, blankly staring into her lifeless eyes.

It was her fault, really.

(565 words)