Voicemail from August 7th, 2017, 2207 EDT:
"Hi, this is Cynthia, and I'm afraid I'm not able to answer my phone right now. I'm probably either at work or at the gym or dancing to music so loud I can't even feel my phone, let alone hear it. You know the drill, leave a message at the beep and I'll get back to you when I get the chance.
"Oh, and if you got this number last Saturday night and you've been trying to get hold of me ever since, um...yeah, I may have been a little drunk Saturday night. Actually I may have been a lot drunk. Like, 'so drunk I don't remember everything I did' drunk. And, um...nothing personal, but if you got this number while I was that drunk, I probably didn't mean to give it to you. Sorry. Everyone else, leave your number at the beep, okay?"
(BEEP!)
"Hello, Cyndi. This is Galen, from the club. Don't worry, I'm not hurt at all that you don't remember me. All that means is that your thoughts got a little tangled up over the course of our conversation. You didn't wind up getting drunk or embarrassing yourself; you and I just had a nice, long conversation, and over the course of that very pleasant chat, you may have found that you had a little trouble following the thread of that discussion. There's nothing wrong with that.
"And I just wanted to call and explain what happened, because I thought you might have become just a little bit confused. The club was dark, and you were so tired from all that exhausting dancing, that it did occur to me that you might have just let the sound of my voice wrap you up like a warm, soft, silken blanket and allow yourself zone out for a little while. I didn't want you to think that was rude, Cyndi. It's okay that you felt so tired, so drowsy that you lost track of my words and just slipped away into a little mental vacation, a soft place in your mind where time didn't matter so much. You can do that any time you want, Cyndi. You have my permission to zone out and relax to my voice whenever you hear me speak.
"And if you're alone right now, you might find that as you listen to my voice and remember how warm and soothing it felt, your mind starts to get tangled all over again. You might find, Cyndi, that as you pay closer and closer attention to this message, that the thread of my explanation weaves its way through your thoughts, tying and tightening them together inextricably. You might find that you don't need to wonder which of your thoughts belong to you, and which belong to me, because they all seem so nice and they wrap around you tightly like a silken embrace. Just like in the club, Cyndi. It's okay to go back to that same warm, happy place in your mind and just listen for a while.
"And that silken cord we've woven together wraps around your mind now, tracing its way around your lazy, fuzzy thoughts until thinking becomes a struggle. Every time you try to think, Cyndi, it tugs on another part of the cord, because my thoughts are your thoughts and your thoughts are all tangled up. So the more you try to think, the less you manage to think, until it becomes easier and easier to give up thinking and just accept my words. Just accept my thoughts. Just accept that you're all tangled up in my will and it feels so nice to be drowsy and helpless and let your mind give up that struggle, just like you did on Saturday night.
"Every time you surrender your struggles, Cyndi, it feels better and better. You don't need to think about that, you don't really need to think about anything I'm saying. You can zone out more and more, tune out all of my words until they just become a tug on your mind, directing you without any conscious effort on your part. You don't need to remember the club, you don't need to remember this message. When you're alone, you can listen to it without thinking about it at all, just let yourself drift and listen and follow along. And that's going to feel so good.
"That's all for now, Cyndi. Be a good girl and let yourself listen. I'll be in touch."
*****
Voicemail from August 13th, 2017, 1143 EDT:
"Hi, this is Cynthia, and I'm afraid I'm not answering my phone right now. I'm probably listening to music or podcasts or something, and I have managed to yet again tune out the ringer on my phone. But I'm sure I'll notice that you've called sooner or later, once I come back to the real world, and I promise I'll respond to your message.
"Although if this is Sharon, I can probably guess what you're going to say already, and I'll just save you the trouble by saying I'm incredibly sorry for flaking out on you last night. I don't even know what happened-I was getting ready, and I just sort of...lost track of time. Won't happen again, I promise! There, now you can just hang up. Everyone else, leave a message at the beep!"
(BEEP!)
"Hello, Cyndi. It's Galen again. I called to see how you were doing, but I can already tell that you're doing just wonderfully. You're listening so well, and you're already finding that it's so nice to keep listening that there really isn't much you need to do. You can just relax that lazy, sleepy body, find somewhere nice and cozy and comfortable where you can be by yourself and let my words, my voice seep into your drowsy mind. Just like you've been doing all week. It's okay if you lost track of time just a little while you were doing that. Time doesn't seem nearly so important when your thoughts are all tangled up, does it?