Well, I'm at a loss of words right now to answer this prompt! So I'll just respond literally. I've come down with laryngitis several times in my life. It usually starts out with a sore throat and then progresses to feeling like something the size of a softball is in my larnyx. My voice cracks and about half my words are audible. Before long, I'm reduced to whispers and seal-like barks. Communication is dependent on people leaning in very close to hear my series of squeaks, pantomime through gestures and facial expressions, or, in the most dire of circumstances, frantic note scribbling.
Laryngitis usually strikes at the most inopportune times, too. Once I remember having no other choice but to walk next door and ask a male neighbor/friend to call in to work for me. That was embarrassing. I can just imagine how phony my excuse, coming as it did from an unknown male, sounded to my skeptical boss! Of course, I was vindicated a couple days later when I returned to work with a raspy "man voice" sounding something like Mrs. Doubtfire.
The most inconvenient time I ever got laryngitis was when I flew from Los Angeles to visit my best friend Sue in northern California. We only got together a few times a year, so our visits were virtual jabbering marathons with lots to talk about. Wouldn't you know it? That's when my vocal cords decided to give out. We made the most of our time together anyway. She just leaned in closer and listened more carefully, and was very considerate about not asking "What?" too many times, as I recall. And I had to learn to make my stories shorter, leaving out some of the less crucial details. :)
The tail end of laryngitis is usually when things get entertaining. At that stage, my voice becomes husky and mysterious. I once paged someone at my job at Wells Fargo with a voice sounding like Demi Moore. The male employees were all scrambling around looking for the new hire! I can only imagine their disappointment when they discovered it was only me, coughing raggedly into my kleenex.
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