Sunday 19 June 2022

'Beauty is Skin Deep' by Joyce Bingham

We were a pair.  A couple, a bargain two for one. We were fawned over, our identical features lauded, our delicious blonde hair, our delightful blue eyes. Our cheeks caressed by random old ladies in twin sets and pearls. 

She pulled my hair and smashed my toes standing on them eager to be the one in front. Faltering thoughts and ideas were often tripped up by my reluctant tongue, so I kept quiet.

My hair became a shade darker and coarser than hers, my eyes a watery blue compared to her Elizabeth Taylor violet. My clothes wore out faster than hers, my knees more grazed. I fell out of more trees, broke more bones. She sucked my life into hers with magnetic force leaving me wan and tired. 

When I left home, I dyed my hair black, wore green lipstick. Blossoming, my hair light and luxurious, eyes bluer than they had ever been. 

I saw her in the beam of my headlights on that cold mountain road, her blonde hair, her violet eyes, shining in my way. I put my foot down and drove past. They comfort me, they will find her they say. I murmur my thanks and look away before they see the gleam in my violet eyes. We were a pair.

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