Friday, July 5, 2024

Word: Glabrous

 

glabrous

[ gley-bruhs ]

adjective

 Zoology, Botany.
  1. having a surface devoid of hair or pubescence.
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                   “Honey, are you okay?” Jill asked.

                   Ryan had still not come out of his room. And he had no intention of doing so. Even his wife couldn’t get him to move. In fact, he had locked himself away in their bedroom, just so he could avoid the inevitable confrontation.

                   “I’ll be fine.” He called. “I’m just…just a bit sick right now. You’d best stay in the spare bedroom for a few days. Don’t worry about me, I’ll fend for myself until I’ve recovered.”

                   It was a flimsy excuse, and he knew it. Jill would never shy away from someone sick. It was why she had become a doctor.

                   “Sick? Sick how? Let me check you out and I’ll see what I can do.” She said, immediately entering Doctor Jill mode. “I should be able to find out what it is and get you the right medicine to help.”

                   “No! No, I…I’ll be fine without that. It’s probably just a cold.”

                   “Just a cold. Just a cold?! Do you know how many people I’ve seen die because they thought they had ‘just a cold’? Open this door right this minute and let me find out what you actually have!”

                   Ryan heard her rattling the doorknob. Then she stopped. He heard her running off and he knew the jig was up. She was getting the skeleton key for the door. He cursed his own lack of imagination. There were so many other excuses he could have used, so why did he use the worst one?

                   A few minutes later, and there was a rattling at the doorknob.

                   “Come on, honey, don’t come in! Please.” Ryan begged.

                   “No can do. I need to make sure you actually have a cold.”

                   The lock clicked open, and the door opened just a moment later. Jill came in, with a stethoscope around her neck. Her eyes were hard and her mouth set into a  firm line. He could tell she even had latex gloves at the ready. She was ready. Then she saw him. Her look changed from one of determination and observation to one of shock and surprise. Then it further changed into one of complete and total amusement. She covered her mouth to suppress the laughter that was threatening her.

                   “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laugh it up.” Ryan said. He crossed his arms in an attempt to look serious.

                   The complete and total lack of hair hurt this attempt.

                   “S-sorry, but…this is…I…” She said, trying her best not to laugh at his plight.

                   “Oh just get it out of your system.”

                   “Okay…Cueball.” And with that, she burst out laughing.

                   Ryan sat on the bed and huffed. He rubbed his completely smooth arms. He had no idea he would miss arm hair, but here he was. And his wife laughing uproariously was not helping his mood.

                   Eventually, she stopped. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she seemed to have gotten herself mostly under control. Mostly.

                   “Are you finished?”

                   “I think so. For now…Baldy.”

                   He sighed as she started laughing again. He rubbed his forehead, trying not to think about how even his eyebrows were missing. He watched Jill as she struggled to get herself under control enough to actually hold a conversation. He could already tell it was going to take a while.

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    It's a bigger problem than most people know. Well, normal hair loss anyway. I'm not so sure about total body hair loss though.  Is that even a thing?

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