The Giver

I think your interpretation of the sound was spot on; at first, listening to the first recording the sound seemed clear, but as it went on it became easier to notice that the sound was more concentrated in the right ear, and the second recording had much fuller sound. Although, maybe with my headphones, the sound fluctuations seemed very similar between the two recordings for me, because your voice didn't have much fluctuation in it to begin with, but the second recording definitely picked up more sound.

It's hard to tell, but I agree with you and Amanda. The sound does appear more balanced in the second recording. Perhaps an interesting experiment would be to try recording with the mic on the opposite side and see if the sound is heavier on the left ear.