One Wish

She blows out the candles just in time. The wax has melted all over the cake. She has given her wish away to the people she loves the most. The people that have been there for her the most even though she has known them for such a short period of time. She couldn’t have wished for anything more. She had no choice, but to give her wish away. They cut the cake as she looks out over the land. Twinkling lights fill her eyes and reflect off the tears slowly rising. Behind her, she can hear the laughter of the 3 people she cannot imagine her life without. She doesn’t cry in sorrow, she cries in utter contentment knowing that her life is better and happier.

As the camera sits on the hood of the car waiting to be focused, the girls huddle together for warmth. So seamlessly and as one. The flash flickers blinding them all. They all take a deep breath before moving. Hoping the moment could last a tiny bit longer.

As the car drives away she reflects as the clock strikes midnight. Another day passes that she wished could have gone on forever. She closes her eyes for a split second to say thank you for what she has.

Reflected in the Mirror

Written for me by Listening for Answers on my birthday:

Sitting quietly, she stares at the face that the mirror tells her is her own. Her eyes start at her soft hair falling in easy curls around her shoulders. It's brown and she thinks that's alright; it's a nice shade that fits easily into the colors of autumn. Her eyes shift to a picture she keeps in a simple frame next to the mirror. She and her closest friend have collapsed on the ground in a fit of laughter, and her hair is splayed beautifully among the fallen leaves. The gold and red look as if they've been waiting for this moment from the instant their stems left the branches. She thinks that maybe October is her favorite month because that's when the trees change their colors to blend in with her.

As the memory fades and she returns to her previous scrutiny, the mirror reflects eyes that say more than words ever could. Even when she's alone, staring back at only herself, they seem to reveal her soul with ease. Her eyes are the same color as her hair, but then they are so much deeper; without any effort at all they see right through to the core of everything they focus on. She knows - because she's been told all her life - that people feel it when she looks at them just as much as they see it.

Those eyes in the mirror shift again to focus now on a soft smile. She tests out that grin that people love to see, and her lips curve gently around it. This is the smile that brings warmth to people's hearts. And the words that have the privilege to be spoken from it fill the small room as she begins to speak quietly.

These words she used to need to hear are said again now more as tradition than required encouragement. The instant the spotlight warms her face, she is exactly where she needs to be. Comfort allows her to become the person that those faces all staring at her have come here tonight to see. The words she will speak then will flow from the very heart of her, and no one will be able to tell that she once learned them from something so ordinary as paper.

As she comes to the end of her recitation, she looks harder into the mirror for a glimpse of that which she leaves behind every night, but picks up again after the curtains have been lowered and the lights dimmed. She sees herself, the true heart of who she is when no one is watching her or expecting anything from her.

She sighs with a hint of relief that she can still find herself reflected in the mirror.