Once upon a time
There lived a young woman
She grew up always knowing she was different
Like the odd one out
From being a little child, to a rebellious teenager and now as a young adult
She felt alone a lot
Always feeling like an outsider
One morning, she woke and before opening her eyes
She knew something had changed
As she rose from bed and opened the drapes
She sensed things would never be the same again
She looked outside
The neighbourhood sat in front of her
Nothing seemed out of sorts
She changed and readied herself for the day
Not bothering to look in the mirror
She knew what she looked like
She always stood out
No matter what she wore, or didn’t wear
Walking outside, she looked around
The people around her walked alongside her
Everyone else blended in so easily
She envied them for that
She’d tried once
To blend in
It all just felt so wrong
Like she’d put on someone else’s skin
She made it to work and went to the restroom
She looked at herself in the mirror for a long while
Nothing appeared to have changed
She was still herself
That both made her feel relieved and disappointed
She heard the toilet flush and someone came to stand beside her
In front of the mirror
When she looked beside her
The other woman standing there looked totally unlike her
No similarities at all
That wasn’t unusual
She never had much in common with others
The woman was bland
The type of person you’d forget about as soon as you looked away
The other woman’s reaction was unusual however
The stranger didn’t even seem to notice her
Didn’t bat an eye
The young woman thought maybe she’d seen this person before
Often when new people met her
They stared in shock, in awe, in disgust, in well something
She looked at her again
Trying to remember if she’d met her
It was hard to tell, she thought
The other woman looked like so many others
The young woman straight ahead
Staring into the mirror
And when she caught sight of herself
Beside the other woman
She gasped
And that’s the only way she could determine who was whom
Through the mirrors reflection
Standing there
Looking straight ahead
She saw two women
Identical in their unimpressionable appearances
Her hand fluttered to cover her mouth
So did the plain woman in the mirror
This couldn’t be, she thought to herself
The other woman washed up and left the restroom
The young woman stood there staring at her solitary reflection
Now that she had seen it
She couldn’t stop unseeing it
All the sameness between her and the other woman
Another person entered and came over to wash their hands
The young woman looked over
Again noticing how plain the new woman looked
She reluctantly looked into the mirror
Her stomach began to churn
She raised her arm
So did the woman in the mirror
The other plain Jane in the room
She settled her arm by her side
The woman beside her finished up and left
The young woman thought back to her previous night
Had something happened?
She remembered coming home from work
She remembered feeling annoyed
She had taken public transit
She remembered how everyone had made her feel so uncomfortable
They stared unabashedly
Some talked to their friends about her
Right in front of her!
This wasn’t anything new
It happened whenever people saw her for the first time
A memory crossed her mind
She’d gotten home, feeling frustrated, lonely and like a social outcast
She’d drawn a bubble bath
Sighing as she got in
She wished not for the first time
That she could be just like everybody else and feel content about it
The young woman stared at herself in the mirror again
Seeing the reflection that stared back at her
Noticing nothing about her
She looked like every other person she was used to encountering
Out of everything missing
What she noticed most
Was the absence of the spark she used to have in her eyes
She felt her hands begin to tremble
Had she somehow put this in motion?
Had she wished it too many times?
Had she gotten what she wanted?
The young woman began to cry
In an instant memories flooded her mind
With every occasion someone mentioned how special she was, in her different-ness
Every instance someone remarked at how unique she was
Every single time she had wished herself away
What had she done?
She collapsed to the floor with a loud thud
People came running
Someone yelled ‘call an ambulance’
‘She’s collapsed’
As the ambulance came to take her away
Her coworkers stood around
The young woman didn’t open her eyes but she could hear everyone murmuring
Someone said
‘Who was that woman?’
Another person replied ‘Never seen her before.’
The young woman wanted to yell at them
She was the same person who’d worked there for years!
She heard someone say her name, they were worried that no one had seen her that day
Oooo this is an interesting one, kind of gave me shivers reading it and wondering what that would be like if it were me looking in the mirror. “Every single time she had wished herself away”, and then wishing almost she’d never said it, never thought it… Wonderful piece! x
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Thanks so much!! Kinda unchartered territory for me!
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