Oh, yes, the fingernails on a blackboard. We all know what it sounds like, don't we? That awful screeching sound. It's the same thing with the old phrase, strangling a cat. That one's usually used when someone's singing badly. I've always liked the term torturing a mime, though that's probably a service to humanity rather then a painful thing. Though the mime might disagree. Well, I know of someone who's got that quality to her voice.
I should break here and tell you that my ears are rather sensitive. Some years ago I had a bout with an inner ear virus, and during the course of diagnosing it, an ear doctor told me I had hearing both below and above the normal hearing range of humans. So, I can hear things you won't pick up on.
Which brings us to the matter at hand. I have no idea who this woman is; nor do I want to. In my hometown, from time to time I'll stop at the main branch of the library. Periodically a woman comes in with her boyfriend. They're both in their fifties, I suppose, from looking at them. He's in a wheelchair, and I've picked up that they're involved from things she says to one librarian or another. It's hard not to hear; her voice is fairly loud.
And what's worse is some quality in her voice, the pitch of it, you see. It's got a slightly nasal quality, high pitched, and when I hear her speak, it's painful to the ears. I can hear her from a long way off, and she seems to like talking to librarians. And talking. And talking some more. And her voice has that fingernails on a blackboard thing going for it.
I shudder at the thought of that voice, sounding yet again in my vicinity. It's odd, a voice capable of causing pain. I wonder if other people have the same complaint when they see her about. Or hear her about.
I should break here and tell you that my ears are rather sensitive. Some years ago I had a bout with an inner ear virus, and during the course of diagnosing it, an ear doctor told me I had hearing both below and above the normal hearing range of humans. So, I can hear things you won't pick up on.
Which brings us to the matter at hand. I have no idea who this woman is; nor do I want to. In my hometown, from time to time I'll stop at the main branch of the library. Periodically a woman comes in with her boyfriend. They're both in their fifties, I suppose, from looking at them. He's in a wheelchair, and I've picked up that they're involved from things she says to one librarian or another. It's hard not to hear; her voice is fairly loud.
And what's worse is some quality in her voice, the pitch of it, you see. It's got a slightly nasal quality, high pitched, and when I hear her speak, it's painful to the ears. I can hear her from a long way off, and she seems to like talking to librarians. And talking. And talking some more. And her voice has that fingernails on a blackboard thing going for it.
I shudder at the thought of that voice, sounding yet again in my vicinity. It's odd, a voice capable of causing pain. I wonder if other people have the same complaint when they see her about. Or hear her about.
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