She held the box with sweaty palms and laughed at her nervousness. She had disappeared quietly upstairs to be alone with the sleeping lady. That's what it looked like...a tiny sleeping lady. She opened the box and pulled the instruction sheet out. So much to do for such a silly little thing. Maybe it wasn't necessary. She didn't really need to succumb to vanity, did she? As she looked up into the mirror and saw the tears welling over her naked eyelids, she understood how important this was. She pulled away from the looking glass to really see herself. Her hair was patchy and very thin in spots. She had her stylist cut it a whole new way to cover those angry naked holes in her hair. She bought eyebrow pencils to color above her now almost invisible eyes. How very sad, to want to draw hair on herself. Her body was smooth, almost shiny. She hadn't been ready for that. But as a girlfriend had pointed out, it was the best pain-free Brazilian she'd ever had. She grinned.
Back to the task at hand. She lifted the dwarf tube of glue and punctured it, wincing at the smell; something like old fish scales and hot mustard. She re-read the directions for the fifth time and gently (or so she thought) squeezed the tube along the fuzzy little false eyelash. The air bubble squeaked through the tube quickly and out jumped a large glob onto the delicate strand which immediately collapsed against her thumb. Now she felt like Senior Wences with that little face painted on her hand..She only had a few moments according to the instructions so she pulled it away and watched helplessly as the" baby bat" sprung free and rolled into a tiny ball at the tip of her other finger. "Dammit!" she muttered and wrestled that teeny fur ball to its original length. She leaned over the sink to see better; to the point where her breath fogged the mirror. Slowly, she began to line it up and apply her eyelash. At first her hands were so shaky that she almost stuck it to her nose. But through yoga breathing and soft coaxing "A little there....close to the corner....nice and straight...You can do this..." she applied it with a precision unequaled by any surgeon.
She was excited to have eyelashes again. She let out her breath and pulled away to see. The glue was still wet and VERY visible, resembling a freakish white eyeliner from the 70's. But not to worry; "It dries clear." ..the package said. She blinked and suddenly realized the little bugger with that clump of extra glue had adhered to her actual eyelid and flipped upside down. It looked like a gypsy moth caterpillar squinched up above her eye. She yanked it free and straightened it out. The glue was now dry and looked like a boogie: too late. She'd have to start over. With a heavy sigh, she shampooed her fuzzy friend to get the glue off. Shampooing a set of eyelashes? Oh yes. Once her facial pet was dry she tried again. BINGO! We have contact! She splayed her hands out as if she needed to balance them or they'd fall off her face. She held her breath.
Slowly and dramatically, so as not to wake the dozing caterpillar, she began to blink and watched as the glue dried. It disappeared. She applied the next little batling to her face and smiled softly. She applied the rest of her make-up and drew in her eyebrows; soft short strokes to make them less harsh and maybe less noticeable. She stepped back and felt her shoulders relax. She saw her face again. For the first time in a long time, she felt pretty and normal, not sick.
She ventured out and although she was self conscious, she did her best to not fuss over her face. She tried not to tug at her hair. She kept herself from wiping her eyes even when she saw bits of glue in her peripheral vision. But in a disastrous moment, she had laughed so hard tears had sprung from her magnificent works of art wherein she learned why you are NOT to apply mascara to false eyelashes. She looked like Alice Cooper doing a Tammy Faye impression. She quickly excused herself and went to the ladies' room. With a heavy sigh, she reached up and wiped her face. In a blink, she had cleaned up and stared sadly at her reality.
Her dinner companion had followed her to the bathroom and watched quietly as her friend's tears dripped victoriously down her once again plain smooth face. Hugging her, she told her she was beautiful and that it would be okay.
A little different yes, but I hope you enjoyed it.
Come and visit again.
