When the Fog Rolls In...

It's like stepping into an entirely different world.

You draw the water, steam rising hot, and flowing over the edges making a fog.
You light up the candles, whose light flickers and dances in the shadows, and across the water's glittering surface.
You turn on the music, soft and gentle, falling into it's lullaby.
Sliding into it's heated embrace you let yourself go.

You know the minute you open the door it's back to the real world, with it's harsh lights and heavy demands. But for a moment you are taken to someplace where there isn't school, or work, or family, or friends, or money, or anything that demands your attention. There is nothing in that steamy room that demands you do anything. It coaxes, and invites and seduces. It heals. It is my sanctuary.

People just don't understand how something as mundane as a bubble bath and primping can be so therapeutic. I don't have to deal with anything or anyone. You wanna bang on the door? Knock yourself out, I'm going to shout, "Just a minute!", crank up the the music and take my time, enjoying every steamy moment. The way the water holds your body closer and more intimately than a lover ever could, covering every inch of your body and leaving you dripping wet. The way the music echos off the tiles and sings to you across the stillness of the room. The way the candles, or in my case fakey LED lights flicker and dance across the water and reflect back to themselves in the mirror. The way everything feels so soft after the razor leaves the skin. The way the moisturizer just slides effortlessly across the expanses of naked skin. The shivers as the cold air kisses the body as you slip between towel to jeans and a tee.

I love wiping the fog off the mirror and seeing these strangers eyes looking out at me from behind a wash of dark curly/waves. The smile at how damn gorgeous her skin looks beaded with water, running rivers down the contours of her skin. I love the way she oozes confidence and sexuality, and I envy her for just a moment.

And then that door opens and the phone rings, and people are shouting your name and asking for your attention and reminding you of all those things you were supposed to have done by now, and all those things you need to do. I consider momentarily turning around and going straight back into my steamed up sanctuary...