even on this occasion, there was no exception

[launderedlace]

Strange as it may seem, I'm fairly sure that every time I saw A blow her nose, it was into a clean handkerchief. Other than for a single instance, a plain white mens handkerchief, neatly ironed, displaying a simple border and monogrammed with an 'A', was taken from her bag and deployed. Exactly like one of these

 

I've no recollection of A ever sniffing in advance: she simply gave her handkerchief a slight shake, its folds obligingly falling open, and raised it to her nose. Once I'd witnessed a couple of these performances, I became fairly sure about what was going to happen; and it always did. On each occasion, A's nose, although silent up until this point, must have quietly been filling. What took place next, without fail, was that she inflicted the centre of her clean handkerchief with a huge, loud eruption of thickly gurgling snot. The single token of decoration on her handkerchief, that matter-of-fact 'A', might give a slight twitch as pristine folds wilted under the messy assault. Then it would all be over: A's now soiled handkerchief would disappear back into her bag never, as far as I can remember, to reappear until it had subsequently visited her laundry basket, washing machine, clothes line and ironing board

There was a single exception to this routine. Just once, the ever un-sniffing A flourished a neat white triangle from within her bag, shook it open and fluttered the prettily embroidered pink flowers embellishing a corner of her small ladies handkerchief. What was about to happen: would this, like many other such daintily decorated handkerchiefs of other ladies, now be gently sniffed, or blown, into? A had many mannerisms which might be described as brusque; she clearly treated her ordinary-looking mens handkerchiefs accordingly; would she show some degree of graciousness and refinement towards this more sophisticated one and merely dab? Perhaps she used it only for special occasions, and so would treat it kindly and gently. A raised it to her hitherto silent nose ...

... no, the answer was immediately forthcoming: this delicate piece of fabric was not spared. A, as always, forcefully emptied her nostrils into her clean handkerchief; as did the plain 'A' on her many men's handkerchiefs, the elegant posy of pink flowers on this one quivered under the impact, as it recoiled to the huge messy spurts ejected from her nostrils. Clearly, all her handkerchiefs, regardless of size or design, had the sole purpose of receiving all the dirt her nose could muster

Edited November 18, 2023 by launderedlace

[Hankysneeze]

Amazing description, A sounds great. Thankyou for sharing.