have plenty of time to develop beauty. You already developed it within…. You have a very old soul, Legend, that’s filled with great wisdom; soon it will show on the outside. Those girls at school are just jealous of you. They all developed already, and are afraid that when your time comes around, you’ll outdo them all; and you will. Besides, if only you can see that you already did, without growing into that great woman you were destined to become. You’ll see, what comes around goes around.” Still, Legend smelled the liquor aroma on her breath, but trusted that the words her mother spoke were real; she prayed they were.
“I know, Mom, I just wish it would come around already!”
“It will, and that’s a promise!”
She felt Legend’s tear-drenched face and just stared at her with a lonely smile, praying that the words she spoke went straight to Legend’s soul and helped it glisten, showering it in truth that would aid its beacon to shine greater. Legend tilted her face away from her mother and stared at her reflection in the window again. She grinned toward her reflection, but the grin vanished when her mind became overwhelmed by her image. It blew out the beacon of her soul that strived so much to excel. Legend turned around to face her mother and hugged her tight. “Thank you, Mom….” She yearned for her mother to believe that the words she slurred to Legend helped her a bit. After all, this was the first time she ever acted like a nurturing mother with liquor still on her breath, and secretively Legend wanted to let her know that she did well, even though it didn’t fix her soul in the least.
“One day every guy on this side of town will be pounding at your door, just to get a glimpse of your beauty,” said her mother. Legend gave out a small laugh.
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far, Mom. Besides, I don’t think a guy would like to date an astrology, zit face kind of girl, like myself,” Legend laughed.
“I wouldn’t get my hopes up on that, you never know…. Now, get your butt moving, I don’t want you to be late for school.” Her mother returned a sobered smile and wiped her mascara-stained tears away with her hands.
“Alright.”
Legend put on her blue school skirt, and a white shirt, striving to avoid looking at herself in the mirror of her bedroom. She always did this, the ritual of staying away from anything with a reflection, especially a mirror − her worst enemy − struggling to brush her hair and feel its shape, making sure that, through her imagination, it was just the way she wanted it to be. Not perceiving her face for a long time, Legend got used to the routine of balancing her clothes and hair −feeling them out− without gazing at their entirety that a reflection blesses the eyes to grasp. But Legend knew the evil behind that blessing, the sinister that eyes can bring, wrapped up with the idea that, even though a reflection is precious to the eyes, it can and most likely will be the greatest curse of all; the reality of what the eyes don’t want you to see; beauty that hides under torturous memories of hatred toward its unconscious features; the wicked melodies that one hears when their eyes meet in a mirror. To Legend, her eyes forever saw ugliness when looking at her image before she discontinued the normal ritual; she didn’t want her eyes to continue the abuse to her soul, so nevertheless, she adapted to a life without her reflection. Of course she still was and is reminded of her looks now and then when her face pops out at her on purpose through the reflection on a window, or a puddle of water, as if it premeditates these meetings for her to know it’s still there, belonging to her like a curse she can’t shake off, like a dying love craving for one more glance of a heart that denies its life.
She grabbed her backpack, three astronomy books and ran out of her small house with the aroma of liquor still apparent in the tobacco-smoky air, stifling at her