Remote control

I am taking a course in Creative Writing at Open University. One of the things we are told to practice is freewriting. You can do it in different ways but the basic idea is to take a word or a phrase and set aside ten minutes or so and then write freely about that.

I did this just now. I saw a remote control lying beside me so I decided to write about that. This is what came out. It took me some eleven minutes to write this and I have changed very little in it.

And I won't show my fellow students this freewrite. I am a bit too embarrassed to do that.

He equipped me with the device this morning. He was quite insistent. I was embarrassed. I usually am when he gets his ideas.

He put it on me himself. I must admit that I didn't mind the touch although the device was rather cold. It slipped in without problems though. His hands were hot and I wanted them to stay.

He even pulled my knickers up and then he said goodbye. He kept the remote control. He explained to me that it was controlled through the mobile phone net or something. This meant he could control it from wherever he was. No need to be close by.

I don't know if that was to reassure me or scare me.

I looked quite smart as I went to work. It was a tad awkward with the device but it wasn't too big or too uncomfortable. It was just a dead thing, nothing more.

At my desk, at 9.17 he gave a buzz and I jumped. He phoned and asked if it worked. I could assure him, it did. He asked me when my big meeting was. I was reluctant to tell him but he insisted.

Ten minutes before the meeting there was a new buzz and I told myself that I couldn't jump like that during the meeting. That would look strange.

He kept quiet the first twenty minutes, making me relax. He is an evil man. Then when I almost had forgotten it started again. I drew my breath and one or two colleagues looked at me but I pretended to cough.

Then he kept it active. That was not as startling but it was quite hard to endure. It made my mind wander from statistics and pie charts.

I don't know if it was the environment, the anxiety or the fear of being affected that made it so hard to resist. I am glad I resisted. I so wonder what my colleagues would say if I hadn't.