Avar's Astral Weaving

A few days ago, I'd been feeling a little down.

not depressed. Just... bored.

and I'd tried to find ways to fight that boredom. I exercised more. Learned new things about myself, about the world.

But when all was said and done, I felt like nothing had changed all that much. That's why I felt so bored.

I had my job, my wife, my hobbies, friends and family. And everything was good.

But there was something missing. Something intangible in my life that made it feel dull, empty and without purpose.

A nagging voice at the back of my head was telling me that if I could just figure out what was wrong with my life, then everything would suddenly be wonderful again.

And then it hit me: In the past year or so, my wife had stopped smiling as much as she used to. She wasn't sad or angry or anything like that; she just seemed... distant and quiet most of the time nowadays. It was a subtle change, but it bothered me none the less.

I couldn't put my finger on it at first, but then one day it finally hit me: My wife's smile isn't what it used to be because I wasn't making her smile as often anymore.

That thought left me reeling for a while and confused me even more than before so I asked her what was wrong and why she wasn't smiling any more.

"Nothing's wrong," she'd answered with a fake smile plastered on her face."I'm just tired."

"You sure?" I'd pressed further hoping a different answer would magically give me an answer as to how to fix our marriage and make her happy again."Are you sure you can't tell me anything? Anything at all? Even if you don't think it means much?"

"No," she'd said firmly."I'm tired, that's all."

And so we didn't talk about it any more after that night and went back to routine once again with both of us lying to each other about how we were feeling inside in order to avoid having the same conversation again and again until one of us died from exhaustion .

I stared at her from across the table as she ate quickly without saying anything much and in silence like she always did these days before rushing off to work in the morning . Then I got up from my seat and went over to where she sat with a smile on her face this time as she ate her food slowly and talked endlessly about some new project she wanted to try out..."some new fabric dyeing technique" that would "allow [her] to create [her] designs using only watercolours". “It'll be fun!" she concluded cheerfully before asking me if I wanted some toast or not before rushing off again without waiting for a reply .

I sighed quietly as I watched her leave before going over to where she sat to check out her progress on whatever it was she was doing now . At first glance, nothing seemed amiss except for the fact that there were pieces of fabric speckled around every possible surface in the kitchen and living room . But upon closer inspection , it became apparent that each piece of fabric had been carefully designed by my wife based on whatever designs had been etched into them . Some were quite beautiful , others were quite ugly , but all of them had something in common: They were interesting . And for some reason, seeing those pieces of fabric made me think about things differently than before . For example , I remembered thinking of paint splotches being ugly for so long , but now each splotch seemed like a perfectly designed pattern artfully splashed onto canvas by an expert artist .

After staring at those fabrics for a while longer , I came back into the living room tiredly expecting nothing at all except perhaps another pile of fabric art lying carelessly on top of some random piece of furniture or table nearby only to be surprised by what greeted me instead : The entire room had been transformed into something unrecognisable from its previous appearance almost overnight and yet somehow resembled something greater than just your ordinary everyday house-like room . There were paintings hung here and there on different walls as though they were meant to be there , there was furniture everywhere too , some pieces new while others old , but all well maintained , polished and cared for beyond their years regardless of their age... They looked timeless almost...

 A sudden sense of déjà vu overcame me followed by an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia for times long since past when knights roamed the lands wearing armour looking for adventure whilst maidens waited patiently at home wishing their husbands would come back safely from their adventures safe and sound .

 "What is this place?" I wondered aloud as awe overtook me at what lay before my very eyes ."Is this your work?"

 A sudden cough from somewhere behind me startled me back into reality once more as though someone had slapped me awake with a cold wet towel before forcing me out onto an icy cold winter morning half-dressed into bitter winds blowing mercilessly through otherwise calm streets still slumbering peacefully unaware of the upcoming storm ahead threatening to wake them up suddenly...

 "So you like it?" asked my wife excitedly as she walked towards where I stood staring dumbstruck at everything around me ."Do you like it?" She repeated impatiently when she noticed that I hadn't answered her original question yet ."Say something already..."

"Oh... uh... yeah... yeah..." Finally finding my voice again,"It's great," I replied honestly ."Really great..."

“Really? You mean it?" She asked expectantly eager for affirmation from someone who could see things objectively instead of merely indulging herself in a self-built daydream world filled with colours far brighter than reality itself could ever offer without running away screaming which is exactly what many people do nowadays when they look around themselves realizing how boring life really is no matter how successful they might have become...

I smiled back at her warmly while embracing her tightly ."Yeah..." Then after letting go of her gently ,"But why didn't you ever tell me about this? About your project?"

She shrugged embarrassedly ,"Well... you never asked..."