Congested Chloe And The Calamity Of Covid

[sneezomania]

This is an attempt to derive a story from the special circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. The characters, as featured, are fictive. However, the main female character is strongly inspired by a real person with very severe allergies. Hope you like it!

 

CONGESTED CHLOE AND THE CALAMITY OF COVID

 

“Ugh … sorry for all the sdeezes … by allergies are … HAAAAKCHIIIIIIEEWWWW … idsade today.“ She threw the tissue away, took a new one and started wiping her nose again.

It must have been about the one hundredth video chat session I was in since the Covid-19 pandemic had started. At least there was a special occasion this time: Julie, a friend of mine, had invited some friends to celebrate – as far as doing a video chat could be called “celebrate“ - her birthday. A few days before, she had mailed:

Hello, as it's my birthday on Sunday, I would like to meet you online on Saturday at 8pm. You know it's the only option to meet right now. I'll mail you the link in time. Please let me know if you'll be there. And please, no gifts this time, I wouldn't have a chance to take 'em anyway. Cheers, Julie

P.S.: A friend of mine, Chloe, will be with us. She has very bad allergies and therefore will be sneezing a lot. I hope you don't mind that.

I answered:

Hi Julie, thanks for inviting me! Yea, I'll be there. And don't worry, I won't have a problem about Chloe joining.

She replied:

Hi Rob, thank you for accepting my invitation! And good to know that it's ok for you to have Chloe with us. Two other people declined my invitation saying they don't want to spend the evening with someone who is sneezing all the time.

'Ungrateful sods', I thought. However, it wasn't my business.

On Saturday around 8pm I clicked the link Julie had mailed and joined the online session. At the moment I came in, there were six windows on my computer screen showing one person each, arranged in two rows with three windows each. Julie, the host, was in the middle in the upper row, I was on the left in the lower row, and on the right in the upper row the was Chloe. Her eyes were red and very watery, there were tears running down her cheeks (probably allergic tears, I thought), and her nose was dark red, but i couldn't see it in full because she was holding a tissue to it. The other three persons were two women displaying her names as Susan and Chelsea as well as one guy prompted as Joe.

“Hello Rob!“ Julie said after I had joined the chat.

“Hi Julie, hi everyone, nice to me...“

“HAAAAKCHIIIIIIEEWWWW!“

“Oh, bless you, Chloe!“ I said.

“Ugh … thagks … sorry for idterruptigg you“, Chloe answered. She threw away the tissue she had held to her nose, took a new one and started wiping her nose.

“No prob“, I replied.

“It's because of by allergies“, Chloe explained. “They bake be sdeeze all the ti … AH … AAH … AKCHEEOUW!“

“Bless you again!“ I said.

“Thagks … ugh ... but it's dot decessary to say 'bless you' every tibe I sdeeze. Otherwise you would have to say … HA-HAA-HA-HATCHIIEAAAWW … have to say 'bless you' every few secodds.“

“Okay“, I replied. Chloe continued wiping her nose.

“Rob, how you're doing?“ Julie asked me.

“Well, okay“, I replied. “Lots of work, but sadly no soccer at the soccer ground right now because of Covid, so just watching it on TV, with the stands being empty and ...“

“HATCHIEAWWW! HAKCHIEEEEAW! HATCH-“

Suddenly Chloe's sneezing couldn't be heard any more, and I saw that she had muted her microphone. But she still was to be seen, and she had a sneezing fit, holding the tissue to her nose and firing off a bunch of sneezes I would have loved to hear.

“So the matches are played without spectators being there?“ Joe asked me.

“Yea“, I replied.

We kept talking about soccer for a few minutes, I answered a few more questions. However, my main attention was focussed on Chloe. Even if I couldn't hear her sneezing because her mic was muted, I could see her sneezing, wiping her eyes, rubbing her eyes, wiping her nose and looking at her computer screen with her watery eyes, seemingly listening to our conversion. When I mentioned that some soccer players had already been vaccinated against Covid, the topic changed to Covid vaccination, and when Susan told that she had a vaccination appointment the following week, Julie asked: “Chloe, are you already vaccinated?“

Chloe unmuted her mic, continued wiping her nose and said: “Yea, I got a quite early vaccidatiod appoidtbedt because of by allergies.“

“And did you get side effects from it?“ Julie asked.

“Well, dot really. I was quite sdeezy add sdotty the days after, but I guess that … HATCHIOOUUWW … that wasd't from the vaccidation.“

“You were terribly what?“ Chelsea asked.

“Sdeezy add sdotty, like I'b right dow“, Chloe replied.

“Sorry, I can't understand you“, Chelsea said.

“She said she was sneezy and snotty“, I explained.

“Ah, thanks“, Chelsea answered.

“Yea, I kdow, I'b difficult to udderstadd because of by … AH … AAAH … AAH-HATCHIEEAW … because of by codgestiod, sorry for that“, Chloe said. “I try to speak as clearly as i cad, but it will always soudd stuffy.“

“No prob“, I replied, “if I listen closely, I can understand you quite well.“

“Okay, I'll try to listen closely too“, Chelsea said.

“Chelsea, it's not too diffult“, I tried to explain. “With a stuffy voice, an 'm' often sounds like a 'b', and an 'n' often sounds like a 'd'. If you keep ...“

“HAA-AAAATCHIIIIIEEWWWWW!“

“... if you keep that in mind, you'll understand I guess.“

“Yea, exactly“, Chloe confirmed.

“Ah, ok, thanks for explaining“, Chelsea replied.

“Chloe, did they ask you about your allergies when you got vaccinated?“ Julie asked.

“Yea, the asked what I'b allergic to. So I told theb, add that took a while because it's lots of thiggs I'b allergic to, but thed they said I should get the vaccide, so I said yes add I got it.“

“Would a Covid infection be especially dangerous for you because of your allergies?“ I asked.

“Well possible, I dod't kdow. But I was glad that I got the vaccidatiod so early, especially as I … HAATCHIEEAAAW … cad't protect byself by wearing a face bask.“

“You mean, you can't wear a face mask?“

“Indeed. I cad't.“

“What's the problem with that?“ I had an idea about what probably was the problem, but I wanted to know exactly.

“Well, it's … HATCHIEOOUUWW … ugh … it's because by dose is rudding all the tibe. I tried to wear a KN95 bask, but of course I couldd't wipe by dose while wearigg it, add after two bidutes or so, the bask was full of sdot … HATCHIEEEAWWWW … it was eved drippigg out of the bask, it was totally gross, so … HAAATCHIEAAWW … I gave up with it.“

“Well, then … are you allowed to use public traffic or go to the supermarket without wearing a mask?“

“Yea, I have a perbissiod, because of by allergies. It's stupid sobehow … bady people who have to wear basks dod't wadt to do, add byself would have liked to wear a bask before I got vaccidated to protect byself agaidst covid, but … HA .. HAAAA … HAAAAATCHOOUW … I couldd't.“

“I hate these KN95 masks“, Chelsea said. “They make breathing difficult.“

“Does that bead that you caddot wear theb?“

“Sorry, didn't understand you“, Chelsea replied.

“She asked: Does that mean that you …

“HAKCHIIEEEAWW!“

“... that you cannot wear them?“, I “translated“.

“Well, no, I can wear them, but it's inconvenient.“

“If it just was idcodvediedt … I sibply caddot wear theb at all, at least dot logger thad two bidutes, because of all the sdot.“

“Then it's good that you're vaccinated now“, Chelsea answered.

“Yea, cert … HAAATCHIEEAAAW … certaidly.“

 

to be continued

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by sneezomania

[kushamizuki]

interesting that the main character here has the same name as the main character of hayfever hailey.

[sneezomania]

“If your nose is so snotty, why don't you blow it before putting on a mask?“ Susan asked.

“Because I … HA …. HAAATCHIEEAAWW … ugh … AAAATCHIIIIIEEWWWWW … I cad't.“

“You mean – you can't blow your nose?“

“Right. I cad't.“

“Why can't you blow your nose?“

“Because it is so codgested all the tibe.“

“How can your nose be so snotty when ...“

“HATCHIEEOUWW!“

“... when you're so congested that you can't blow it?“ Joe asked.

“I dod't kdow … I just kdow that it's like that.“

“What happens when you try to blow your nose?“

“Dothigg.“

“Hm … I find it difficult to imagine that … may I ask you to demonstrate it?“

“Yea, sure“, Chloe answered. She threw away the tissue with which she had wiped her nose, took a new one, unfolded it, buried her nose in it and started trying to blow it. And indeed, it looked and sounded like if there was nothing happening. Just a little “shhhh“ sound. After fifteen seconds or so, Chloe stopped it, took the tissue away from her nose and said: “It doesd't work. There's dothingg happedigg. That's why I have to … HATCHIEEEAAAAWWWW … to … HAKCHIIIEEWWW … to wipe by dose all day, because I cad't get the sdot out by blo … AKCHEEOUW … ATCHEEEOUW … ugh … HAATCHIEEEEAAWWWW ... HAATCH-“

Again she muted her mic and continued sneezing without being audible. And it turned into quite a long sneezing fit, I stopped counting after the twentieth sneeze. Nobody said anything, it seemed to me that they all felt sorry for Chloe because she was sneezing so much.

After about two minutes, she stopped sneezing, threw away the tissue, took a new one and started wiping her nose again. “Chloe, are you okay?“ Julie asked.

Chloe left her mic muted and nodded. She looked totally worn out from all the sneezing.

“Really?“ Julie asked again.

Now Chloe unmuted her mic. “Yea, dod't worry. That was a quite logg sdeezigg fit, but that's dot udusual, that happeds every day.“

Once again nobody said anything. Especially Chelsea seemed to be shocked about what Chloe had said.

“You deedd't stop your codversatiod whed I'b sdeezigg. Just igdore it.“ So at least she had recognized that we hadn't said anything during her sneezing fit.

“Okay“, Julie replied.

They started talking about a TV show which I hadn't seen and wasn't interested in. Chloe broke into another sneezing fit, muted her mic again and kept it muted for quite a while. I regretted that, I missed the sound of her sneezing and her stuffy voice. And I wanted to learn more about her allergies. So I sent her a chat message:

Hi Chloe, may I ask you something about your allergies?

She looked at the right edge of her computer screen, but it seemed that she couldn't read my message, as she squinted her eyes and looked confused. She threw away the tissue she had held to her nose, took a new one and wiped the allergic tears from her eyes. Then she looked at the screen again, and now she seemingly could read my message. A few seconds later, I got an answer from her:

yea, sure, feel free to ask

'Fine', I thought. I started to type my next message, but before I was ready, I got another message from her:

but my answers may take a while because of all the sneezing and stuff

I copied my unfinished message into the clipboard and answered:

no prob

A few seconds later I received another message from her:

and because i have to type with one hand cos as you see, i need the other hand to hold the tissue to my nose

I answered:

your one-hand typing is quite fast

She smiled and replied:

thanks, i have lots of practice

Now I sent her the message I had already started to type:

can you actually enjoy a video chat like this when you're sneezing so much?

She answered:

yea, it's good to talk to people. but it would be easier of course if it wasn't for all the sneezing and nose wiping

yea, i see

I realized that, as nice as it was to exchange chat messages with her, it wasn't as exciting as actually listening to her. I still missed the sound of her sneezes – while exchanging the messages, she had sneezed at least ten times – and her stuffy voice. I tried to imagine how her last message would have sounded if she had actually spoken: “... if it wasd't for all the sdeezigg add dose wipigg“.

However, I thought that chatting with her by typed word was still better than not communicating with her at all, so I started to type my next massage. But suddenly, Julie asked: “Chloe, did you see the show too?“

Chloe unmuted her mic and said: “Yea, but i bissed parts of it. Watchigg TV is difficult whed by … HATCHIIEEAAWW … by allergies are bad. The sdeezigg is distractigg, add the watery eyes bake by visiod blurry.“

Once again, nobody said anything. They seemed to be shocked again about what Chloe had said. After a few seconds of silence, I explained: “Well, you can re-watch it on the TV station's website.“

“Yea, but I got quite a budch of it, add hodestly, I didd't find it too exci … HAKCHIEEEEAW … HATCHIEEAW … ATCHI-“ She muted her mic again and continued sneezing.

The others continued talking about the show and later changed to other subjects which didn't interest me too much as well. Most of the time Chloe kept her mic muted, and I exchanged some more chat messages with her. I asked her various things about her allergies, and she answered them all. It was quite interesting content wise, although I missed the sound of her sneezing and her stuffy voice again.

At midnight we tried to sing Happy Birthday for Julie, but it didn't really work because there was some latency, and therefore it wasn't possible to sing synchronously. So it was a bit of chaos, with Chloe's stuffy voice – for once, without sneezing - making it sound even more weird. However, Julie was happy though and thanked us.

A few minutes later, Chloe said: “Julie, thagks for idvitigg be, but I have to go to bed dow. I'b really … HATCHOOOOUUUUW … tired and word-out frob all the sdeezigg add stuff.“

“That's ok“, Julie replied. “It was nice to have you with us!“ The others said bye to Chloe, and a few seconds later – after having sneezed once more - she left the video chat session, reducing it to five windows.

'Now she's gone', I thought. 'I would have liked to talk with her a bit more.' And yes, there were quite a lot of questions about her allergies coming to my mind which I hadn't asked her. 'I'd love to talk to her again', I thought.

So when the “birthday party“ was over after about an hour later, I sent Julie an e-mail:

Hi Julie, thanks for inviting me to your birthday chat! I found it quite interesting to talk to your friend Chloe, and I would like to talk to her again. May I ask you to tell her and give her my mail address?

After a few minutes, Julie answered:

Yea, no prob. I mailed her. She's always happy about having people to talk to, I'm sure she'll mail you.

'Wonderful', I thought. I stayed up around fifteen more minutes to see whether Chloe would mail me immediately, but seemingly she had already gone to bed indeed. So I went to bed as well.

 

to be continued

[sneezomania]

When I got up the next morning, there was an e-mail:

Hello Rob, Julie told me that you would like to talk to me again. Yea, we can do that. What about doing some chat this afternoon? Chloe

I replied:

Hi Chloe, thanks for mailing so quickly! Well, I would like to do a video chat again if that's ok for you.

About ten minutes later, there was an answer:

Yea, that's ok. Chatting by typed word would be easier for me because of all the sneezing and the other allergy hassles, but if you prefer video chat, we can do that. What about 3pm?

I was immensely relieved that she had agreed to meet for a video chat. I replied:

Yea, 3pm is fine! Do you want me to mail you a link for the video chat?

This time she answered immediately:

Yea, that's fine.

So I sent her the link and started the video session at three o'clock in the afternoon. After a few seconds, Chloe joined. This time it was just two windows on my screen, so they were much bigger than the day before, and I could see much better how red and watery her eyes were, how red her nose was and how humid her skin was from the allergic tears running down her face. I could actually see how bad her allergies were, and I found this frightening and fascinating at once.

“Hi Chloe! Nice to meet you so soon again!“

“Yea, hi Rob, thagks for idvitingg be to … HA … HAAA … HATCHEEEOUW … ugh, sorry ...“

She threw away the tissue which she had held to her nose, took another one and started wiping her nose.

“I'b glad that we didd't chat this bordigg. I was so sdeezy that I would have had to cadcel … HATCHIIEEAAWW … cadcel the chat.“

“You mean, you were even more sneezy than yesterday at Julie's chat?“

“Yea.“

“For heaven's sake ...“

“Well, for by staddards, it was quite average at Julie's chat. Otherwise I … HATCHIIEAAAWW … I would have left earlier.“

Now I was shocked. To me, she had appeared extremely sneezy at the chat with Julie and the others, so I could hardly believe that she described this as average for her standards.

“Oh dear … then you must have been excessively sneezy this morning … I can hardly believe that ...“

“Well, I cad udderstadd that it's hard for you to believe it. Doode who hasd't witdessed it cad believe it. Sobetibes I eved caddot believe it byself.“

“Errm … yea … okay ...“ I didn't know what to say.

“Rob, bay I ask you a questiod?“

“Yea, of course!“

“Well, a friedd of bide wadts to do a …. AH … AAAH … ATCHOOOOOO … ATCHOOOUU .. AAAATCHOU … ATCH-“

She muted her mic and fired off a sneezing fit which lasted a bit more than a minute. This time I counted them all, it was 38 sneezes.

When she stopped sneezing, she unmuted her mic. “Well, that's how it was this bordigg … dow ibagide this beigg twice as logg add happedigg every five bidutes ...“

“Oh dear ...“

“Yea, it was so bad that I got dizzy frob all the sdeezigg, so I sat dowd bost of the tibe ...“

“Okay, I see ... Chloe, you wanted to ask me something ...“

“Yea, right. A friedd of bide wadts to do a TV docubedtary about sufferigg frob allergies durigg the Covid-19 paddebic, add … HATCHOOUW … he asked be whether I'd be willigg to be a part of that … but I dod't kdow whether that's a good idea.“

“Hm … what are the reasons for and against doing that?“

“Well, it's certaidly a good idea because … HAAAAKCHIIIIIIEEWWWW … because it could bake people aware of what it beads to have bad allergies. But od the other hadd, I would find it … ATCHIEEEEW … quite ebbarrassigg to have by eddless sdeezigg showd od TV … so I dod't kdow.“

“Yea, I see. It's difficult to decide.“

“Rob, the guy who wadts to do … ATCHEEEOUW … the docubedtary is odlide dow. Would it be okay if I idvite hib to the chat?“

“Yea, certainly!“

She typed something, once again with one hand because she was holding a tissue to her nose with the other, and a moment later a third window appeared, showing a man screening his name as “Steve“.

“Hello, Steve, thagks for joidigg us!“

“Yea, thanks for inviting me. Hi Rob, please to meet you!“

“Hi Steve, the pleasure is all mine!“

“So what you're talking about?“ Steve asked.

“Well, I've told Rob that you are pladdigg to … HA … HAAA … HAAAAATCHIOOUW … HAAATCHIEEAAAW … HATCHO-“

Chloes muted her mic, and I took over: “She has told me that you are planning to do a documentary about living with allergies during the Covid-19 pandemic.“

“Yea, that's right. So what do you think about it?“

“I think that's a good idea. But Chloe said she's unsure whether she wants to be a part of that.“

“Yea, that's understandable. But of course it would be good to have her in the doc, because she has very bad allergies herself and so the topic would be illustrated in a very convincing way, I guess.“

Chloe had stopped sneezing meanwhile. She unmuted her mic and said: “Yea … I will bake by decisiod whether I'll codtribute to it durigg the dext days add thed tell you.“

“Oh, that's fine!“ Steve answered.

“Would you wadt be to talk id your doc?“ Chloe asked.

“Yes, certainly.“

“Well, I guess people will have … HATCHIEEEAWWWW … difficulties to udderstadd what I'b sayigg because of by codgestiod.“

“That's no problem“, Steve replied. “I'm aware of that. We will use ...“

“AKCHEEOUW!“

“... subtitles for what you're saying, so if someone doesn't understand you, he can read what you're saying.“

“Ah, that's a good idea, so I deedd't worry about dot beigg udderstaddable“, Chloe answered.

“Exactly“, Steve confirmed.

We kept talking for a few minutes, then Steve said that he would leave the chat because he was busy with other things. So Chloe and I were left, and a few seconds after Steve had left, she broke into a huge sneezing fit. She muted her mic again, and a moment later, she left the chat completely.

'Oops, why did she leave without saying bye?', I thought.

A few minutes later I got a mail from her.

Sorry for leaving the video chat so soon, but I was so embarrassed about all the sneezing that I thought it's better to leave. It would have been more sneezing than talking from my side.

I answered:

No prob. Thanks for chatting though, and don't worry, I don't mind the sneezing.

She answered:

Thanks for your understanding.

'So what to do now?' I thought. I would have liked to invite her to another video chat, but I was unsure whether I would do her a favor by doing that. It was obvious that video chatting wasn't something convenient for her.

However, after having chatted with her two times now, it had become clear that Chloe was something special for me. Not just because of her excessive sneezing, but also because she was a real nice person. Over the years, I had met many allergic women on the Internet, and some of them had been really nice to talk to, but most of them hadn't done such an impact on me as Chloe – as I realized now – had done. But I wasn't sure about my feelings, whether I should consider it as a “crush“ or whatever. Moreover, there was nothing much I could do. Chloe was living in a city about 300 miles away from my hometown, and considering the circumstances of the pandemic there wasn't a real option of visiting her or inviting her to my home. So I decided to wait a bit and take some time to find out what exactly she meant to me.

A few days later, I got another mail from her:

Hi Rob, I've told Steve that I agree to contribute to his TV documentary about allergies. He told me that he wants to do a video chat as a part of that, and he asked me to ask you whether you would be interesting in joining us. Please let me know. Chloe

I answered immediately:

Hi Chloe, thanks for mailing, and yes, I would like to join the video chat!

A few hours later, I got a mail from Steve in which he asked me whether doing the video chat on the next Friday, 8pm would be okay for me. I told him that that would be perfectly okay.

 

to be continued

[sneezomania]

So at Friday I joined a video chat together with Chloe, Steve and a woman called Amanda who, as I was told, would do the documentary together with Steve.

“Okay, nice to have you here“, Steve said. “Let me please explain ...“

“HAAATCHIEAAWW!“

“... explain a bit about our chat tonight: As you know, it will be a part of our TV documentary, and the idea is that we ask Chloe ...“

“HA … HAKCHIIIEEWWW … ugh … HAAAATCHIEEAAWWW … HATCHII-“ Chloe muted her mic.

“... about her allergies, and she answers our questions. The more informations we get about this, the better. Amanda and Rob, please imagine you don't have much knowledge about allergies and want to find out what that is and what that means for someone who suffers from it, especially now given the special circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. Okay?“

“Yea, okay“, Amanda said. I nodded.

“As you see, Chloe has a sneezing fit right now. When it's over, let's start.“

While Chloe kept sneezing, I tried to think about some clever questions to ask her. But it was impossible to make any clear thoughts about that, my whole attention was focussed on watching Chloe sneezing although her mic was muted.

Finally she stopped sneezing, got a new tissue, started wiping her nose and unmuted her mic. “Ugh … sorry for that.“

“No prob“, Steve replied. “Now, Chloe, what is it what you're allergic to?“

“Oh, that's a lot. But the worst thigg by far is polled. Polled is the bost evil thigg od earth. If there's life after death, I hope it's a life id a world without polled.“

“So you think your allergies would follow you in an otherworld?“, Amanda asked.

“Well that … HAAAAKCHIIIIIIEEWWWW … wasd't meadt seriously“, Chloe answered and smiled. “I just said that to illustrate how bad polled is for be.“

“Ah, okay.“

“And what kind of pollen are you allergic to?“, Steve asked.

“All kidds. Tree polled, grass polled, herbs polled … everythigg.“

“All kinds? Seriously?“

“Yea.“

Steve and Amanda looked like they couldn't believe it.

“Well, errm ...“, Steve continued, “I always thought that when someone is allergic to ...“

“HAAAAATCHIOOUW!“

“... allergic to pollen, he's allergic to a special kind ...“

“Yea, that's true for bost allergy sufferers. But with be, it's different. At least I don't dow of … HAKCHIIEEEAWW … ady kidd of polled I'b … HAKCHIIIEEAOUWWW … HAAATCHIEEEEAAAWWW … dot allergic to.“

“Oh dear!“ Amanda still looked like she couldn't believe what Chloe said.

“So at what time of year does pollen season start for you, and when does it end?“, I asked.

“Well, it usually begids id late February or early Barch, and it lasts udtil late October or so.“

“Oh my god, this is eight months a year!“ Amanda replied.

“Yea.“

“But it's not always that bad as it is today, is it?“, Amanda asked, obviously hoping for a positive answer.

“Well, bost of the tibe it's pretty bad. Sprigg is terrible, fall is … HAATCHIEEAAAW … eved bore terrible, especially whed ragweed polled is aroudd, subber baybe is a bit better, but dot buch.“

“Sorry, I didn't understand the last part“, Amanda replied.

“She said: Summer maybe is a bit better, but not much“, I 'translated'.

“Yea, exactly“, Chloe confirmed.

“Oh my god, that sounds horrible.“ Amanda seemed to be quite desparate about what Chloe had said.

“Well … yea … you cad describe it like that“, Chloe answered.

“But in winter, when there's no pollen, you're free from all that?“ Amanda kept trying to find out something positive.

“Do, I'b dot. I'b dot just allergic to polled, there are HA … HAAATCHIOUW … other thiggs I'b allergic to, bainly dust and bold. Or adibal fur. So there's actually allergies id widter. But it's dot as bad as durigg polled season.“

“So there are days in winter on which you don't sneeze?“

“Do, that's ibpossible. But there are days od which i dod't sdeeze for a quarter of ad hour or so, add that's quite a logg tibe without sdeezing for by staddards.“

“Ah … okay … I see.“ Amanda seemed to be a bit disappointed about Chloe's explanation.

“In widter“, Chloe continued, “sobetibes it's possible for be to … HA … HAA … HAAA … HAAATCHIEEAAAW … play a sogg od by guitar add sigg to it without sdeezing durigg the sogg. Add that's absolutely udthigkable durigg polled season.“

“Ah, you play guitar?“, Steve asked.

“Yea, but dot id public. Just for byself, at hobe.“

“May I ask you to play a song for us?“

“You bead – dow?“

“Sorry, I didn't understand you“, Steve replied.

“She asked whether ...“

“HAAATCHIOUW!“

“... whether you want her to play a song right now“, I explained.

“Yea, that would be great!“

“Do, it's useless“, Chloe replied. “It would be idterrupted by tods of sdeezigg.“

“Okay … I see.“

 

to be continued

[sneezomania]

“But I cad show you a YouTube video of be playigg a sogg without sdeezigg. Dou you wadt to see it?“

“Yea, of course!“

“Okay.“ She posted a YouTube link in the chat. I clicked it and saw a screenshot of her sitting on a chair, holding an acoustic guitar. “I'll bute by bic while you watch it, so you cad … HAAAATCHIOUW … watch it without hearigg be sdeezigg.“

“Okay“, Steve replied, “I suggest that I share my desktop and play it, so we can watch it together.“ Amanda and I agreed, Chloe muted her microphone and got a new tissue for wiping her nose.

Steve started playing the video, and we watched Chloe looking to the camera and saying: “I'b godda play Skyscraper by Debi Lovato for you. I hope I wod't have to sdeeze while playing it. Hope you like it!“

Her voice sounded a bit stuffy, but by far less stuffy than as I knew it from the video chats. And she looked a bit allergic, with a few tears running down her cheeks and her nose being a bit red, but compared to how she looked at her chat window, it was very moderate. The video had an upload date in January, so it had obviously been done in winter, outside pollen season.

After playing a short intro on the guitar, she started singing:

“Skies are crying
I ab watching
Catching tear drops in by hands
Odly siledce
Has ad ending
Like we dever had a chadce

Do you have to
Bake be feel like
There is dothing left of be ...“

Despite her allergies being apparent, her singing and playing impressed me. I liked her singing voice, it was tuneful even if it sounded a bit stuffy, and she hit every note. Also her guitar playing was accurate, always on time, with every chord being correctly fingered, on a guitar which was tuned perfectly and sounded really nice. 'This performance is the strict opposite to her allergies', I thought, 'it's really done well.'

After she had finished the song, she said: “Okay, that was it, hope you … ATCHOO … oh, sorry for sdeezing, I'b glad I didn't sdeeze during the song, hope you liked it, thagks for watching!“ Then the video ended.

Amanda, Steve and I applauded. “This is wonderful!“, Amanda said.

Chloe unmuted her mic, said “Thagks“ and continued wiping her nose.

“Well, Chloe, I can understand that you don't want to sing and play something with your allergies being bad“, Steve said, “but to illustrate ...“

“AAATCHIOUUUUUW!“

“... to illustrate the severity of your allergies, it would certainly be interesting to hear such a performance.“

“Well, there's adother YouTube video, of be siggigg id a karaoke bar while by allergies were horrible. It's extrebely ebbarrassigg, but I cad give you the ligk if you wadt ...“

I was surprised. While listening to the Skyscraper performance, I had checked her YouTube account for other videos, but hadn't found any.

“I have uploaded it as udlisted because it's so ebbarrassigg, so you just find it if you have the ligk.“

So now I knew why I hadn't found it.

“Yes, please!“, Steve replied.

“Okay, but before I'd like to explaid a bit about it. It was in Septebber last year, and in Septebber by allergies are always idsade. I was … HATCHEEEWWWWW … at a karaoke bar with sobe friends, add they asked be to sigg a sogg. I said that would be useless because it … HATCHIEEAW … it would be bore sdeezigg thad siggigg. The karaoke DJ heard this and idvited be to sigg a sogg, saying that id this bar everyode was idvited to sigg, add that it deedd't be perfect. He also offered be a free drigk for siggigg, so i fidally agreed.“

“Cool story“, Steve replied.

“Ok, so here's the ligk“, Chloe said and put the link in the chat. Steve opened it again, shared his desktop, and Chloe muted her microphone.

The video showed a small stage with a microphone on a microphone stand and a small monitor placed on a chair in front of the mic stand, obviously to screen the song lyrics for the singers. After a few seconds, a male voice – obviously from the karaoke DJ - could be heard: “And now, ladies and gentlemen, please give a big hand for Chloe who will sing a song for us although she's a bit sneezy today. Very courageous! Chloe, please take the stage!“

Chloe went on stage, holding a tissue to her nose with her left hand. There was lots of applause from the audience, it seemed that there was a quite nice atmosphere at the bar.

“Chloe, which song are you gonna sing for us?“, the DJ asked.

She stepped to the mic and said: “Well, it's … HATCHIEAWWW … sorry … it's This Is The Life by Aby Bacdodald.“

'Wow, that's a song with lots of words', I thought. 'Probably not easy to sing with bad allergies.'

There was some applause again. It seemed that the audience liked the choice of the song.

“Okay, so let's start ...“

“A bobent please. I have to wipe the tears frob by eyes to be able to read the lyrics.“

“Okay, no prob!“

Chloe stepped away from the mic, took another tissue and wiped her eyes. So now she was standing there on the stage, holding a tissue to her nose with her left hand and wiping her eyes with another tissue in her right hand. It looked terribly embarrassing, it was just too understandable that Chloe had refused to sing initially.

When she was ready with wiping her eyes, she said: “Okay, let's start.“ But she still held the other tissue to her nose. She stepped to the mic again, letting it stick in the stand. The DJ started the song, and during the instrumental intro Chloe let out two thunderous sneezes. Immediately after that, the first verse started.

“Oh the widd whistles dowd
The cold dark street todight
And the people they were dadcigg to the busic vibe
And the boys chase the girls with the … HAATCHIEEEEAAWWWW! HAAATCHIEEAAAW! AH … AAAH … HATCHIIEEAAWW!“

While she sneezed, she bumped into the mic, and the mic stand nearly fell over. It was incredibly embarrassing. Gladly she managed to save the mic stand from falling by grabbing it, then she put the tissue she had held to her nose in her left trouser pocket, dragged a new tissue out of her right trouser pocket, wiped her nose hastily and then continued singing, omitting the lines she had missed because of the sneezing.

“Add you wake up in the bording add you're head feels twice the size
Where you godda go? Where you godda go?
Where you godda sleep todight?

And you're siggigg the soggs
Thigking this is the life
And you wake up in the bording add you're head feels twice the size
Where you godda go? Where you godda go?
Where you godda sleep todight?
Where you godda sleep todight?“

Now there were a few instrumental bars, and during this the audience started applauding and cheering again. Obviously there weren't annoyed by Chloe's sneezing at all but rather wanted to support her. The camera angle turned around and showed the people in the audience. The bar was packed, there were many people standing because there weren't enough seating places for everyone, and all of them seemingly appreciated Chloe's performance, I couldn't spot one single face looking bemused.

The second verse started, the camera turned to Chloe again, and after a few lines of lyrics she had to sneeze again. This time it was seven or eight sneezes, which meant that she missed quite a bunch of lyrics. But this time she didn't bump into the mic because she went a step back when she started to sneeze.

It went on like that until the end of the song, after a few lines of singing Chloe had to sneeze again. I estimated that she missed around half of the lyrics because of that. When the song was over, the audience erupted into thunderous applause and cheering. “Chloe, that was very courageous, thanks a lot, I'm sure Amy Macdonald would be proud of you!“ the DJ said with a quite enthusiastic voice. “Thagk you“, Chloe said, took a bow to the audience and then left the stage. Now the video stopped, and Steve ended the sharing of his desktop.

Chloe unmuted her mic and said: “It's a torture to watch this video. It's ode of the bost ebbarrassigg experiedces I ever had.“

“Well, the audience liked it“, I answered.

“Yea, they were very dice people. Everyode who sagg a sogg … HAAATCHIEEAAAWWWWW … got buch applause. I eved got sobe free drigks offered, I spedt sobe hours there without havigg to pay for a drigk. But whed I was od stage, I … ATCHIIEEEOUW … hated byself for beigg there. I bead … karaoke is about siggigg, dot about sdeezigg.“

“Karaoke is about having fun“, I objected. “And they had a lot of fun. You haven't done anything wrong.“

“Yea … but I felt like doigg sobethigg wrogg.“

“Well, if it had been a proper concert with the audience paying an entrance fee, I would agree to you“, I answered. “But it wasn't.“

“Okay … however“, Chloe replied.

“But when you find it so embarrassing, why did you upload this video?“ I asked. “Okay, it's not public, but why did you upload it at all?“

“I dod't know. Perhaps because the people were all so dice although I was so … HATCHIEEAAAWWWWWW … so sdeezy. And sobetibes whed sobeode who chats with be doesd't believe that … HAAAATCHIEEAAWWW ... by allergies are really bad, I show hib this video as a proof. Udtil dow, everyode has believed it thed.“

 

to be continued

[Klingon]

this is very well written so far!

[sneezomania]

“I've got another question“, Steve said.

“Yes, please“, Chloe replied.

“How did the Covid-19 pandemic change your life as an allergy sufferer?“

“Well, ode thigg has certaidly changed. The people … HATCHIOOUUWW … keep buch distadce to be, buch bore thad the six feet which are recobbedded. They thigk I have the virus, because of the sdeezigg. I keep telling theb that … AH … AAAH … HATCHIIIIEEEOUW … it's frob allergies, dot frob the virus, but bady people dod't believe it.“

“Hm … that sounds like they never met an allergic person ...“

“Yea, it seebs like that. I dod't kdow, it's stradge ...“

“Well, isn't it a good thing for you considering Covid if they keep distance to you?“ I asked.

“Yea, iddeed, better thad cobing close to be. But they exaggerate it, they keep ted feet distadce, that's dodsedse.“

“I've read a newspaper article saying that in Japan, allergic people are wearing badges telling others that they have allergies, not Covid“, I said. “Wouldn't that be a good idea for you?“

“Dod't kdow. I guess if they dod't believe be whed I tell 'eb that it's allergies, I guess they wod't believe such a badge as well. Add whed … HA-HATCHIEEEAW … they're ted feet away, they caddot read such a badge adyway.“

“Okay“, I replied. I liked the idea of Chloe wearing such a badge, but her explanation seemed credible to me.

“Would a Covid infection be more dangerous for you than for other people because of your allergies?“ Amanda asked.

“I dod't kdow. I've read ode dewspaper article sayigg … HATCHIEAAW … sayigg that dasal allergies dod't bake a Covid idfection bore dadgerous. Other people say that every illdess which has sobethigg to do with the ibbude systeb can bake Covid bore dadgerous, add allergies … HAKCHIIIEEAOUWWW … AH-AAAH-AAAATCHIIIIIEEWWWWW … ugh … sorry, by tissue box is ebpty, I have to get a dew bode, wait a bobedt, please ...“

She stood up from her table, went somewhere and came back a few seconds later with a big tissue box in her hand. She put it on the table, sat down again, opened the box, got a tissue and started wiping her nose again. Amanda, Steve and I waited for her to continue what she had been telling us.

“Okay, so … errb … sorry, where did we stop?“

“You were telling us about people telling you something about Covid and people with allergies“, I wanswered.

“Ah, yea, thagks. Well, they say that … HATCHIEEAWWW … every illdess which has to do with the ibbude systeb can bake Covid bore dadgerous, add allergies have to do with that of course.“

“Yea, but doesn't that refer mainly to older people?“ Steve asked.

“Well, baybe ... codsidering by age, I dod't have to worry to buch, I'b thirty-ode, but the allergies … well, I dod't kdow. Before I was vaccidated, I was very cautious, I avoided beetigg other people as buch as I could.“

“Okay, I see“, Amanda replied. “How would you ...“

“HAAAAKCHIIIIIIEEWWWW!“

“O dear, what a powerful sneeze“, Steve said.

“Yea … ugh … sorry … this is so addoyigg … everyode who talks to be gets idterrupted by by sdeezigg ...“

“Don't worry, noone can condemn you because of that. It's a bodily function“, Steve answered.

“Yea, right … but it's addoyigg though … thagks for your … HATCHEEOUW … HAAATCHIEEAAWW … ATCHEEOUW ...“

Chloe broke out into a long sneezing fit and muted her microphone. Amanda, Steve and I waited until she stopped sneezing and unmuted her mic.

“Ugh … by dose it terribly tickly. It always feels like I'b godda sdeeze id the dext bobedt, eved if I dod't sdeeze. If I would sdeeze as buch as … HAAAAATCHIIIIIIIEEEWWWWW … as I feel like I have to, I would be sdeezing dodstop the whole day, without ady idterruptiod.“

“Oh dear ...“ Amanda seemed to be shocked again about what Chloe had said.

“So, even after a sneezing fit like the one you just had, you feel like sneezing more?“ Steve asked.

“Yea.“ Chloe changed the tissue and continued wiping her nose.

“If you got Covid, of which I hope you won't, would that make you even more sneezy?“ I asked.

“Well possible. Whed I catch a cold … HATCHIEEEAWWWWWW … od top of by allergies, I sdeeze eved bore thad I do adyway. Well possible that it would be the sabe with Covid. Ode bore reasod to be cautious.“

“Does that happen often that you get a cold on top of your allergies?“ I asked.

“Yea, quite ofted. Add thed I'b sdeezigg for two reasods, cold add allergies. You caddot ibagide it, it's disasterous.“

“Oh dear ...“ Amanda looked like she couldn't believe what Chloe had said.

We kept on talking for about an hour. Steve and Amanda asked Chloe a lot of things which they thought to be important for the documentary, and Chloe answered all their questions. I did a few short comments every now and then, but most of the time I listened to them and enjoyed seeing and hearing Chloe sneezing, wiping her nose and trying to talk with her stuffy voice between her sneezes.

Finally, Chloe said: “Folks, I'd like to edd the chat dow because I'd totally tired frob all the sdeezigg agaid.“

“No prob“, Steve replied. “I guess we have asked you enough questions, thanks for answering them all.“

“You're welcobe“, Chloe replied.

“I'll contact you again when we proceed with the doc.“

“Okay. So … HAAATCHIEAAWW … bye, folks!“

We said good-bye and ended the chat. 'That was very impressive in a special way', I thought. But I felt that the time to talk with her about my feelings towards her hadn't come yet. I still was too unsure about that.

to be continued

Edited April 23, 2022 by sneezomania

[Rick]

Great story - poor Chloe, such a sneezy nose, and the poor thing's totally unable to blow it properly. I'd be wanting to take her nose in my handkerchief to help with "Congested Chloe's First Real Clear-Out"...😉

[Jettous]

Wow! I hope Rob get to go on a date sometime. 

[JustReading]

Any chance he will get to take care of her while she has a cold?

[sneezomania]

The day after, I got a mail from Chloe:

Hi Rob, would you like to do another video chat with me? If yes, what about this evening, 8 pm?

I was surprised. It was the first time that she suggested a video chat to me, and I knew that video chatting wasn't really convenient for her. Did she do this to do me a favor? However, I instantly replied.

Hi Chloe, thanks for mailing! Yes, I would like to do another video chat with you, and 8 pm tonight is fine!

So we met at 8 pm, and after a few minutes of smalltalk, Chloe said: “Rob, I have a questiod.“

“Yea, please.“

“Do you kdow that there is sobethigg called … HATCHIEEAW … sdeeze fetishisb?“

“Errm … yes, I do.“

“Thed I have adother questiod … I hope it wod't upset you ...“

“Ask me, please.“

“Are you a sdeeze fetishist?“

“Errm … how did you find out?“

“You … HAAAAATCHIIIIIIIEEEWWWWW … you bead, you are?“

“Errm … yes … but … how on Earth did you find out?“

“Well, it was because … HAATCHIEEAAAW … HATCHIEEEAWWWWWW … AH … AAAH … HATCHIEAAW ...“

Chloe broke into a sneezing fit and muted her mic. And for the first time, I couldn't enjoy seeing her sneezing. Because I badly wanted to know how she had found out that I was a sneeze fetishist and, even more important, what she thought about that.

After a time that felt like an eternity to me – in fact it may have been half a minute or so -, Chloe stopped sneezing and unmuted her mic. “Okay, sorry, well, it was because … HATCHEEEOUW ...“

'Oh no, not again', I thought.

“... because of the questiods you have asked be about by allergies. For exabple, you wadted to kdow how by worst allergy day was, add that's a questiod that … HA-AAAATCHIIIIIEEWWWWW … I get asked by bady fetishists. Or you asked how bady sdeezigg fits … ATCHEEEOUW … I have durigg a day, that's a typical fetish questiod as well. And I gederally had the feeligg that you edjoyed seeigg be sdeezigg at the video chats.“

“Oh, really?“

“Yea, there always was sobe gladce id your eyes whed I was sdeezigg.“

“Oh … I hope that didn't hurt you ...“

“Do, it's do probleb. I have talked to fetishists ofted, I'b okay with that.“

“Ah, good to know.“ I was immensely relieved.

“As logg as they're dice add respectful, it's all okay. There's eved ode thigg I like about you fetish guys: You have … HATCHIEEAWWWW … HATCHOOUW … ATCHEEOUW … you have good kdowledge about allergies. Whed I tell a fetishist that I'b sdeezigg frob by allergies add dot frob Covid, he always believes be.“

“Yea, because we're interested in allergies.“

“Yea, of course. But there's ode thigg about you fetish guys I caddot udderstadd, perhaps you cad explaid be: There are sobe fetishists who … AATCHIEEAAAW … edjoy their owd sdeezigg. How is that possible? I could dever edjoy by sdeezigg, I fidd it just gross add disruptive add terribly addoyigg!“

“Well, there's no rational explanation for that. It's a fetish thing, and if you don't have the fetish yourself, you ...“

“HATCHIEEEAWWWWWW!“

“... don't have a chance to understand it.“

“Ah, okay.“

“But they always enjoy just their sneezing, not the other things they get from allergies or a cold, things like runny nose and so on.“

“Ah, that's udderstaddable. How could sobeode edjoy … HATCHOOOOUW … havigg his dose ruddigg dodstop, add his eyes beigg itchy add watery add all that, it's all pure crap.“

We kept talking for a few minutes, then Chloe told me that she wanted to end the chat because – as always – she was totally tired from all the sneezing. We said good-bye and agreed to stay in touch via mail.

During the next weeks we didn't do any video chat. She didn't ask, and as I knew that it wasn't convenient for her, I didn't ask as well. We exchanged a lot of mails, she kept telling me that her allergies were still horrible and that there was some progress on the TV documentary. Considering my feelings towards her, I still thought that the time to talk to her about that hadn't yet come, although it had become clearer meanwhile that there was something to talk about. 'Maybe the time is right once they have finished the documentary and her allergies perhaps have improved a bit', I thought.

On a day at which I was thinking about whether I really should wait that long, I got a mail from her:

Hi Rob, Steve wants me to do a phone call for the doc in which I talk to a person who doesn't believe me that I'm sneezing from allergies and not from Covid. Would you want to do such a phone call with me? Well, I know that you don't think I sneeze from Covid, so you would have to pretend that you do. Please let me know. Chloe

I answered:

Well, I'd be willing to do such a phone call. But I think that would be a bit contradictory because at the video chat with Steve and Amanda we did for the doc I believed everything you told about your allergies, so when I doubt all that in a phone call, that wouldn't be consistent.

But I have a suggestion. I could ask a friend of mine whether he wants to do that. It's someone who loves endless arguments and doubts many things he gets told, so I'm sure he would like to do it and he would do it very well. Would you like me to ask him?

A few hours later, Chloe replied:

I talked to Steve about that, and yes, please ask your friend.

I asked him, he said yes as expected, and I told Chloe. So the next day there were two people sitting next to me in my living room: My friend Dave who would do the phone call with Chloe, and Amanda who would film him while doing that. At six PM sharp, Dave's phone rang.

“Hello?“

“...“ I couldn't understand what Chloe was saying, but I heard a powerful sneeze.

“Hi Chloe, nice to hear from you! How you're doing?“

“...“ Again I couldn't understand what she was saying, and this time there were some more sneezes.

“Chloe! What's up with you? Do you have Covid?“

“...“

“Which allergies? How can you be so sure about that? Did you do a Covid test?“

Sadly I couldn't understand what Chloe said, but it was obvious that she wanted to convince him that she was sneezing from allergies and not from Covid, and Dave credibly told her that he didn't believe her. He said that she was doubtlessly sneezing from Covid and insisted that she did a Covid test. He played his role perfectly. I was looking forward to seeing this phone call with both of them being understandable at the TV doc.

After about fifteen minutes of heated debate, they started to talk about other things. I took a sheet of paper, wrote “Dave, please keep in mind that this should be about her allergies and Covid“ on it and showed it to him. He gave me a hand sign saying that he didn't care and continued talking about whatever. Meanwhile Amanda stopped filming. I looked at her, and she whispered to me: “Don't worry, they have talked about the allergies vs Covid issue long enough, we will have to edit that for the doc anyway.“

After quite a while, they ended the call, and Dave said to me: “Wow, what a nice and charming woman. Too bad that she's suffering so much from her allergies. It was really difficult to play that role, in fact I believe everything she said.“

“Yea, but why did you change the topic?“

“Because I had run out of ideas about what to tell her. And I wanted to do a real talk with her, not just that faked debate. And she obviously wanted to do the same.“

“No prob“, Amanda said. “You've done more than enough of heated debate for the doc.“

“So there you go“, Dave replied. “I'll certainly talk to her again, she's wonderful.“

When Amanda and Dave had left my home, I sat down and thought for a while. It seemed to me that Dave liked Chloe as much as I did, and that perhaps it hadn't been a good idea to involve him in this. But now it was too late to think about that. He had her phone number, she had his, and if there was something to happen between her and him, I would have to live with that.

 

to be continued

[starpollen]

Awww no!  Go away Dave… 😂😇

[sneezomania]

The next day I got a mail from Chloe:

Hi Rob, thanks a lot for asking Dave about doing the phone call. He played his role very well, and we had a really nice talk after that. I called him again today, and we talked for hours. Steve is very happy about the phone call, he said it's a wonderful contribution to the doc. Anyway, I'll let you know as soon as the doc is finished. Chloe

I didn't answer, I wasn't in the mood to do. Obviously I had made a mistake.

A few days later, Chloe mailed again:

Hi Rob, may I ask why you didn't reply to my last mail? Did I do something wrong?

I answered:

No, it's all ok. Sorry for not answering, I simply didn't know what to write.

Now she didn't answer. So we didn't exchange any mails for more than a week which felt quite strange because the weeks before we had mailed every day. I asked myself whether I had made more than one mistake.

Finally there was a new mail from her:

Hi Rob, the TV doc is finished! And we already have a broadcast date, it will be shown on Friday at 7.30 PM on the Open TV Channel. If you watch it, please let me know what you think about it. Chloe

I answered immediately:

Hi Chloe, thanks a lot for letting me know! Of course I'll watch it, I'm very curious. And of course I'll tell you what I think about it.

On Friday on 7.30 PM I was sitting in front of my TV. I was quite excited, I hadn't been so excited about any TV stuff for quite a long time.

The first thing that was to be seen was Chloe standing somewhere outside, having a sneezing fit. At the bottom there was a caption: “No, it's not from Covid! - Allergies in the pandemic“. After a few seconds, the picture crossfaded to the next take, and now there was Chloe sitting in a room that I knew from the video chats, so it was obviously her home. She sat on her desk chair, held a tissue to her nose with her left hand and said: “I have beed livigg with very severe dasal allergies for bady years.“ And while she said that, a subtitle was prompted saying: “I have beed living with very severe nasal allergies for many years.“

'I don't need these subtitles', I thought. 'I understand her without them, and they distract from watching her.' Gladly there was an option to switch off the subtitles, so I did.

“Sidce the Covid-19 paddebic has started“, she continued, “bady people thigk that I … AATCHIEEAAAW … ab sdeezigg frob Covid, but id fact it's … ATCHEEEOUW … frob allergies as always.“

The documentary had been filmed in high definition, and so Chloe's face was much clearer than it had been at the video chats. Every detail was visible much better: how red and watery her eyes were, how many allergic tears were running down her cheeks, how red her nose – the upper part which wasn't hidden behind the tissue – was and how tired and worn-out her overall look was. Also her voice was much clearer than at the video chats, the sneezes sounded much more powerful, and the stuffyness of her voice was much more apparent. Despite that, she was better to understand than she had been at the video chats because of the overall better audio quality.

'This is cool', I thought.

“But bady people dod't believe be whed I tell'eb that I sdeeze … HAATCHOOOOUUW … frob by allergies add dot from Covid. So there turd away frob be because they thigk I idfect theb.“

The picture changed again, and now a bus stop was to be seen, with Chloe standing at one end of the waiting booth, and about twenty people standing at the other end. All of them were wearing face masks, the only who didn't was Chloe who held a tissue to her nose while she had one more sneezing fit. Then her voice was to be heard from the off, moderating the pictures: “This bus stop is surroudded by lots of big trees, so whed tree polled is active, staddigg there add … HATCHIEAAW … HAAATCHIEAAWW … waitigg for the bus is pure hell for be.“

I noticed that the people kept fifteen feet distance or more to Chloe but didn't keep the recommended six feet distance to each other. 'Don't ask about being consistent', I thought.

Then the bus came, the camera angle changed, and Chloe entered the bus using the door at the rear, still sneezing. All the other people took one of the other two doors of the bus. Chloe sat down, and all the places around her didn't get occupied, instead the people took places far from her, once again not keeping six feet distance to each other. The bus left the station, and the picture faded out.

Now the video chat Chloe, Amanda, Steve and I had done was featured. So there was nothing new for me, but I found it nice to re-experience the chat, with Amanda hoping to get some positive answers from Chloe and her telling how terrible her allergies were being the emotional highlight.

The next take was filmed at a supermarket, and it reminded me of the scene at the bus stop. Chloe was standing in a waiting queue at the checkout, keeping six feet distance to the person in front of her, but the man behind her kept twelve feet distance or something like that. Gladly this take was just a few seconds long, I wasn't keen to watch these absurd scenes any longer. Although I knew that the people's inconsistent behavior was a main subject of the doc.

And now there was the telephone call between Chloe and Dave. I had been looking forward to seeing this, hoping that both of them would be audible. And yes, Steve had arranged it like that. The screen was split in half, on the left half there was Dave sitting in my living room, and on the right Chloe was sitting at her home, holding her phone with the right hand and holding a tissue to her nose with her left hand, with lots of allergic tears running down her cheeks again. It started with Dave's phone ringing.

“Hello?“

“Hello Dave, this is … HAATCHIEEEEAAWWWW … this is Chloe.“

“Hi Chloe, nice to hear from you! How you're doing?“

“Ugh, by allergies … HATCHEEOUW … by allergies are … ATCHIIEEEOUW … HATCHIEEAW ...“

“Chloe! What's up with you? Do you have Covid?“

Do, do, I'b sdeezigg frob by allergies agaid.“

“Which allergies? How can you be so sure about that? Did you do a Covid test?“

“Do, I didd't. I kdow it's frob … HATCHIEOOUUWW … frob by allergies.“

“Chloe! As long as you don't do a Covid test, you ...“

“HAAATCHIEEAAAW!“

“... you cannot be sure about that!“

“Dave, I've beed vaccidated.“

“Hey, good for you, but that doesn't mean that you cannot get infected.“

“Yea, but I'b cautious. I always keep distadce.“

“Do you use public traffic?“

“Yea.“

“There you go! As soon as you enter some train or bus, you risk getting infected!“

“I dod't believe that. All the people keep so buch distadce to be that … HA-HATCHIEEAW ... that there caddot happed adythigg.“

“But you use the same doors as they do!“

It went on like that for about three minutes, then it faded out. As Amanda had already told me when they had done the phone call, Steve had edited out most of the talk. I was a bit disappointed because I would have liked to hear more of that debate – as faked as it was – and of Chloe's sneezing. But these three minutes certainly were sufficient to illustrate what was to be illustrated for the doc.

The next take was Chloe sitting at her home, speaking to the camera. “As ad allergy sufferer, I wadt to appeal to all of you: Whed a sdeezy persod tells you … HATCHIEEAW … that he or she is sdeezigg frob allergies add dot frob Covid, please believe hib or her. Doode will tell you that he has allergies if id fact he hasd't. Have sobe reasod, add keep distadce to all the people, dot just to those who … HATCHEEOUW … HATCHIEOOUUWW … ATCHIIEEEOUW ...“

While Chloe broke out into a sneezing fit, the picture and sound slowly faded out, and the names of the people involved in the doc were screened. Then it was over. A short documentary, but certainly long enough to transfer a message which I found quite simple. And in terms of seeing Chloe sneezing, it certainly was a very exciting thing. I was glad that Chloe had agreed to do it.

I sat down at my computer desk and wrote a mail.

Hi Chloe, just saw the doc, and yea, I think it's well done. Your appeal at the end was convincing. The scenes with the people keeping twelve or fifteen feet distance to you were awkward, but yea, that's what the doc is about. The phone call with Dave was cool, you did a good acting job. My respect to you that you did it!

She answered:

Hi Rob, thanks for mailing. I hope the doc will make people aware of allergies more than they are now. Myself I found it really embarrassing to watch it because I was to terribly sneezy while we did the filming, but Steve said that's good for the doc because it illustrates how bad allergies can be, and I guess he's right. Bye, Chloe

 

to be continued

[sneezomania]

The next day I got a mail from Steve:

Hi Chloe, Amanda, Rob and Dave! I got lots of feedback to the documentary, incredible lots! More than 300 mails! I forwarded them all to Chloe becuase most of the people want to talk to her. Anyway, thanks a lot to you for supporting the doc, perhaps we'll do something together again in the future. All the best to you, take care, Steve

'300 mails. Not bad', I thought. And now I decided that the time had come to tell Chloe about my feelings towards her. So I sent her a text message:

Hi Chloe, can we do a video chat? There's something I'd like to tell you.

She answered immediately:

Yea, no prob. What about 8 pm tonight?

Yea, fine.

At 8 pm I entered the chat room on my computer, but Chloe wasn't there. I was a bit suprised because until now she had been absolutely in time at every video chat we had met. 'Okay, perhaps she's in the middle of a sneezing fit right now', I thought.

I waited two minutes which felt like an eternity, but she still didn't appear. 'Oh dear, hopefully there hasn't happened something serious to her', I thought.

After she still didn't appear at five minutes past eight, I took my phone to send her a message. But just in this moment I saw a black window appearing at the video chat, with her name being screened at the bottom. Then I heard three or four loud sneezes, and then her video appeared. She looked allergic as ever, holding a tissue to her nose, and lots of tears running down her cheeks. I felt my heart pounding stronger and faster.

“Oh Rob, I'b so sorry for beigg late! I had a phode call with … HAAATCHIEAAWW ... with by forber girlfriedd ... HAKCHIIIEEWWW ...“

'WHAT?' I thought.

“... it was quite ibportadt, add it took a bit logger because I was so ... HA-HA-HATCHIEEAAAWWWWWW ... so sdeezy ... HAAATCHIEEEEAAAWWW ... I hope you cad forgive be, I probise I'll wod't be late dext ... HAAAAKCHIIIIIIEEWWWW ... dext tibe!“

“No prob, it's all ok ...“

“Oh, thagk you.“ She threw her tissue away, took a new one and started wiping her nose.

“But did I get it right that you had a call with your former ...“

“HATCHIIEAAAWW!“

“... with your former girlfriend?“

“Yea, that's right.“

“Does that mean that you're … errm … that you're a lesbian?“

“Yea.“

“Errm ...“

“Rob, do you have a ... HATCHIEEEEAW ... a probleb with that?“

“No, no, not at all, it's just … errm ...“

“It's just what?“

“Well, it's … to make it short … I have a crush on you.“

Chloe raised her eyebrows, and her red, watery eyes looked even more allergic. “Really?“

“Yea.“

Chloe took a new tissue, wiped the tears from her eyes, then held the tissue to her nose again and said: “Errb … dow I'b flattered, really. But yea, as I'b a lesbiad, there wod't be ady … well, you kdow.“

“Yea, of course.“

“But dow you've bade be curious. What is it you like so buch about be? Is it the ... HA-HATCHIEEEAW ... the sdeezing?“

“No, it's not just that. Well yea, it has ...“

“HAAATCH-“

I saw that she had muted her mic. Seemingly she wanted to listen closely to me without interrupting me by her sneezing.

“... it has to do with that, certainly. But it's not just that. You're a lovely character, it feels really good to talk to you, and I admire your courage without which you certainly wouldn't have agreed to do the TV documentary. Talking to you, doing video chats with you is something special, something very special for me.“

She unmuted her mic and answered: “Oh, thagk you for your dice words, I'b deeply ibpressed.“ She looked at me, obviously waiting for me to say something, but I didn't know what to say. So she continued: “But dow, as you kdow that I'b a lesbiad, do you still ... HAAAAATCHIIIIIIIEEEWWWWW ...“

'Wow, what a wonderful sneeze', I thought. And in this moment I realized that I still immensely enjoyed talking to her and seeing her sneezing.

“... do you still wadt to talk to be?“

“Yea, certainly!“

“Oh, that's dice. I always edjoyed talkigg to you because you have a special ... ATCHIEEEEW ... a special udderstaddigg for by allergies.“

“Yea, because I'm a fetishist.“

“Yea, sure. But I'b always glad whed people udderstadd about by ... HATCHIEEEAWWWW ... by allergies add dod't thigk I have Covid, do batter why they udderstadd.“

“Ah, ok.“

“So we cad do bore video chats if you wadt.“

“Oh, that's cool. I remember you saying that ...“

“HA-HAKCHIIEEEAWW!“

“ … saying that video chat is inconvenient for you ...“

“Yea, basically it is, because all the sdeezigg add stuff. But I've realized that ... HATCHIEEEAW ... that bady people wadda do video chats. One friedd of bide said that she wadts to cobbudicate with facial expressiods add body lagguage ...“

“Well, yea, that's a point.“

“... add bady of the people who sedt Steve bails after of the TV doc wadt to do video chats with be as well. Judgigg frob their bails, I assube that bady of theb are fetishists as well, but as I said … that's ok. So ... HA ... HA ... HATCHEEEWWWWW ... HATCHIEAWWW … HATCHIEOUW ...“

Chloe broke out into a thunderous sneezing fit and muted her mic again. It still thrilled me to watch her sneezing even if I couldn't hear the sneezes. After about fifty sneezes – this time I didn't count – she stopped sneezing, took a new tissue, started wiping her nose again, unmuted her mic and said: “Ugh, sorry for that.“

“No prob.“

“So where did we stop?“

“You told me about video chatting.“

“Ah, yea. Well, as I said, we cad do bore ... HATCHIEAAW ... bore video chats if you wadt. I'll also do video chats with sobe of the people who sedt bails after of the TV doc, because they wrote really dice bails, and of course I'll idvite ... HATCHIEEEAAAAWWWW ... idvite you as well whed I do chats with theb.“

“Ah, that's really nice, thank you!“

“You're welcobe.“

“But I'd like ask you a little favour ...“

“Yea, please.“

“May I ask you to not mute your mic when you have a sneezing fit?“

“You bead - you wadda hear be sdeeze eved bore?“

“Yea.“

“Wow, you fetish guys are ... HATCHIEEOUWW ... are really crazy! But yea, if you wadt, it's okay.“

“Oh, thank you!“

“Well, I hope that this Covid paddebic wod't last too long. But as logg as ... HAATCHIEEAAAW … as there will be these restrictiods about beeting in persod, I'll do video chats regularly, because ... HAAAAATCHIIIIIIIEEEWWWWW ... it feels good to talk to people who ared't grossed out by by allergies, so ... HAATCHIEEEEAAWWWW ... HATCHIEEAAAWWWWWW ... ATCHEEEOUW ... HATCHIIIIEEEOUW ... HATCHOOOOUUUUW ...“

 

THE END

[maddragon]

This is one of the best fics I've ever read. Bravo!