The Butter Knife Fell and Sounded Much Too Loud

Dear Delyara, It hit the floor with that bright kitchen clang that only takes a second and somehow still feels like it has insulted the whole room. The children didn’t care. Nobody reacted much. But my body did. I could feel how near the surface I was. How one sharp noise, one small jolt, one tiny break in rhythm can feel emotionally huge when the nervous system has already been absorbing too much for too many hours. I picked the knife up and washed it again. That’s all. Still, the moment told the truth before I did: I was more fragile by that time of day than I had admitted even to myself.