Misstrauen - Mistrust, Suspicion

The best words, those with seemingly most potential for an interesting little piece are, in my scant experience thus far, hardest to write about. With innocuous concrete nouns, it’s relatively easy to weave them into a completely unrelated story, adding hilarious jokes based on the randomness of the target word. However, when faced with an abstract noun, a concept such as mistrust and suspicion, all of sudden it becomes serious. I get a feeling it should be about the weeks leading to a relationship breakup or when a close friend stole your job or put his testicles in your ice cream when you went to the toilet. The suspicion begins the second you leave the room - What’s he going to do now? Why didn’t I take my ice cream with me to the bathroom? It then subsides when you reassure yourself you’re just being paranoid as you’re emptying your bladder. But then it all comes flooding back as you hear the hushed sniggering as you descend the stairs, followed by the forced silence as you re-enter the room. Why didn’t I take a mental picture of the exact position of my bowl and spoon? Or even an actual picture on your phone? You act casually and sit back down. Tell yourself the sniggering was as a result of the mediocre US sitcom on the TV. Joey, for example, makes you express your mild amusement by expelling air through your nostrils in a quick burst, but rarely forces a full-blown laugh. The suspicion, the mistrust, the fear that at the first mouthful everyone else in the room is going to cackle with sick pleasure. But it never happens. Either your ice cream was untouched, or your ‘friend’ had everyone else well under control. You’ll probably never know, but your suspicion and deep mistrust remains.