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A tiny splinter of light - as it did almost every morning - pierced through the curtains and across the face of Audrey. She did have an alarm clock and it worked perfectly fine, but Audrey usually kept it in the closet, waking up like this was much nicer. Her eyes fluttered open, sleep’s weight quickly lifting itself from her body, allowing her to sit up. Appreciating the familiar surroundings, she felt that today would be another good one. The lady crept gracefully from her single bed and headed to the window, pulling open the curtains with a flourish.
Only minutes before had the sky lightened outside, dressing the otherwise dull autumn in a stylish blue, which now cooled the decor of the bedroom as well. But shouldn’t a lovely colour like this have a nice breeze to match? With that thought, Audrey set the window ajar, leaning on its sill and breathing in the morning air. She sighed contentedly, looking out at the neat neighbourhood and well-tended garden just outside. The sound of Seymour stirring in his bed took her attention for a second - Oh good, he was awake too. But he probably wasn’t feeling too well.
“G’morning, Audrey.”
He mumbled to his wife, tiredly waving in her general direction.
“Good morning!”
She whispered back, smiling over her shoulder at Seymour, who was still just a lump under the covers. Cute.
She returned to taking the outside in, picking up on the morning birdsongs that danced lightly through the air. A pair of them were visible, small dark ones that darted about the bare tree branches. They called sweetly - Maybe to each other? - making up the parts of the song that were clearest to Audrey. Seymour, on the other hand, was busy trying to find his glasses which had somehow fallen on the floor. Luckily finding them didn’t take too long and so he too got out of bed, deciding to join Audrey by the window.
“Can you hear that?”
She asked him.
He listened for a moment, tuning in to the sounds of the nature out there.
“…Yeah!”
He confirmed softly, a delighted smile on his face.
“I say we go out for a little walk if you don’t feel too sick. What do you think?”
The question earned an immediate change in his demeanour, which Audrey could sense.
“Oh, I don’t know about that.”
Seymour glanced away nervously.
“The fresh air might make ya feel better!”
“It’s not that I’m sick, it’s just - I’m startin’ to show more and I don’t want any comments about it. Remember what the neighbours said a couple weeks back? I don’t wanna hear what they’d say now…”
A delicate noise of sympathy left Audrey’s mouth. She gave Seymour a brief look-over - It was true, he was noticeably different. The changes tended to happen so slowly that she often didn’t notice. But to a stranger, it would seem that he had put on weight all of a sudden despite being quite an active man.
“Aw, Seymour. Don’t let those guys bring you down, they have no idea what they’re talking about!”
“If only they did, maybe then they wouldn’t go around saying things like that to guys like me.”
He said almost resentfully, wondering if there even Were any other guys like him.
“Well, I think you’re still very handsome! And it’s a beautiful morning out there, it’d be a real shame to waste it.”
Seymour hummed in agreement, though he was clearly still thinking it over cautiously.
“I’m just a little scared someone’s going to know somehow…”
“Quite frankly, the way you look is none of anyone’s business and we’ll tell ‘em if they have anything bad to say.”
Audrey patted his upper back reassuringly.
“Plus! - If we go out now no one’s even gonna be there, it’s early… and very cold.”
Seymour gasped excitedly, an idea!
“Maybe I can wear my new puffer jacket? That way I can keep warm And hidden.”
“Mhm! See, there’s always a solution.”