Today's Chosen Skin

by, Cassandra

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She shifts; pulling today’s chosen skin tighter around her, falling farther into character. Yesterday is put away, pushed to the back of the closet, but she can still hear her former voice ringing in her ears.

“Is that all you can do?”

She steps closer to the mirror, trying not to meet the eyes staring back at her. She dusts the brush across the skin, sculpting this stranger’s face into someone who can be mistaken for her. The make-up hides the flaws, but that’s never what she’s been worried about.

“Is this all you can be?”

She flinches, but doesn’t make a sound. She just keeps applying the make-up with a not-so steady hand. For a split second she catches the eyes in the mirror. They’re empty. Dead. Void of any sort of life. She turns away.

“Is this all you can do?”

A tears slips from empty eyes, and trails over the skin hiding who she is. The difference is shocking… or would be, if she’d look up. She’d long forgotten what she’s like without someone else’s skin. She doesn’t look up.

“Is that all you can be?”

Her breath catches in her throat. Tears keep falling down, washing away the mask. Her hands curl into fists. Perfume bottles rattle when she slams them down. She finally raises empty eyes. She doesn’t like what she sees.

Her voice breaks as she whispers “I honestly don’t know.”