The laughing reflection
I once knew lady. She was an average lady, of average height and average shape and her face was averagely pretty. She had discovered nothing, invented nought nor done anything that would set her down in the history books. However, this average lady had a heart so big that its light shone from every part of her. It made her eyes twinkle and her laughter so warm you could feel the heat wash over your own body when you heard it. Her ears were always open to catch every word you spoke and her mouth only uttered words that would dance from her lips and carry all your troubles away.
One day that lady's heart broke. It shattered into a million pieces which errupted into the air and was carried away on the dark night's breeze. Her eyes stopped twinkling and her laughter became steely and forced. Her ears always listened though, they would never stop catching the words being flung around.
She looked in the mirror and her reflection laughed. It titled its head back and laughed so loud she thought the glass would break. Her fingers reached up to touch her wrinkled skin, skin that once so smooth and glowing with health. She touched her mouth, her lips cracked and red that used to be soft and delicate. She searched her eyes. They had lost their brightness and were circled in black shadows. She stared at them in the mirror, their depth having no end. She stared....and stared...and stared. She could not take her eyes of them.
Her hand began to shake and she forced her gaze to look at them. When did this start? Or had it always been there? Time had ceased to tick and all her thoughts had been thrown into a pot which bubbled and plopped and chured on the red glowing coals. She reached for the bottle that lay beside her cluttered sink and stared at the liquid inside. It was transparent. It hid nothing. The smell rose and curled around the hairs in her nose, its fingers grasping her lips and bringing them to the cold glass. She took a long sip and felt as it worked its way through her veins. It warmed her blood and rolled away the stone that lay in her heart. Her throat could not stop drinking, the liquid harsh in her mouth and filling her nostrils with a burning fire.
After a while her body felt numb, the warmth of her friend washing over her. She looked in the mirror again. Her reflection had stopped laughing now and there was smirk there instead, a mark of a silent victory. Her demons had won again. She threw the bottle against the glass and watched as it shattered, her reflection now in a million pieces. She started to laugh. And she laughed and laughed until she had no breath left. She sank onto the floor and watched as the red blood oozed from her skin where the sharp pieces of her reflection punctured it. Her breath drew in sharply. The pain was orgasmic. It was all she wanted.
I once knew a lady. She was an average lady of average height and average shape and her face was averagely pretty. She had discovered nothing, invented nought nor done anything that would set her down in the history books. However, this average lady had a heart so big that its light shone from every part of her. That lady is gone now.
One day that lady's heart broke. It shattered into a million pieces which errupted into the air and was carried away on the dark night's breeze. Her eyes stopped twinkling and her laughter became steely and forced. Her ears always listened though, they would never stop catching the words being flung around.
Her hand began to shake and she forced her gaze to look at them. When did this start? Or had it always been there? Time had ceased to tick and all her thoughts had been thrown into a pot which bubbled and plopped and chured on the red glowing coals. She reached for the bottle that lay beside her cluttered sink and stared at the liquid inside. It was transparent. It hid nothing. The smell rose and curled around the hairs in her nose, its fingers grasping her lips and bringing them to the cold glass. She took a long sip and felt as it worked its way through her veins. It warmed her blood and rolled away the stone that lay in her heart. Her throat could not stop drinking, the liquid harsh in her mouth and filling her nostrils with a burning fire.
I once knew a lady. She was an average lady of average height and average shape and her face was averagely pretty. She had discovered nothing, invented nought nor done anything that would set her down in the history books. However, this average lady had a heart so big that its light shone from every part of her. That lady is gone now.
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
a beautifully sad, a hunting tale taht could fit so many I know... how terribly sad... becuase forgiveness can often remove that stone in a flash... I loved this piece Ash...bravo!
Lilla...
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
I am blessed with meeting such interesting people and I love listening to their tales - happy or sad. I have never met a person with such a big heart who searched so much for her own self-worth. As you say simple forgiveness is worth so much - at a time of the year when ridiculous amounts of money is spent on material things you wonder how much more meaningful gifts such as forgiveness and love would mean to millions of people.
'Tis the season to be jolly!
Merry Merry!
Ash