S
Flawed
Image
by Rebecca Jones
he stood in front of the mirror looking at the reflection of her nude
body. Slowly she began to turn and as if habitually began to count the
many flaws that she found. Her legs so big, her hips so thick. “Who
would want something like this”, she thought. She ran her hands gently
down her thighs and across her belly. She turned slightly and placed her
hand over her stomach.
Casually she tilted her head to the side and bit down on her lower lip
as if to stop herself from speaking. As her self-examination continued,
her eyes fell upon the thickness of her thighs and she shook her head
in silence. She would see in her reflection the few dimples on the back
of her thighs that plagued her so often. She sighed. She took her hands
and cuffed the sides of her breast. One was slightly smaller than the
other. “I wonder if he noticed”, she whispered.
She stood motionless for a moment staring at her flawed image reflected in the mirror. She lowered one arm and with the other placed it
across her chest and rested her hand on her shoulder as if to cover her
shame. She felt herself wanting to cry so she closed her eyes and again
shook her head in silence.
He stood unnoticed in the doorway watching her from a distance.
He watched her as she admired herself in the mirror. He watched her
as her hands softly caressed her stomach and her shapely hips. He
watched her eyes glaze over her full thighs and elongated legs. “Those
thighs, how amazing”, he thought. Her thighs were now his thighs. Her
body was now his body. He watched her hold her breast gently with
each hand. Her soft lips were moving whispering words that he could
not hear. He watched her stand motionless in the mirror as if for a mo-
ment to admire her own flawless image that stood before her.
When she covered her chest with her arm and closed her eyes
he felt embarrassed because he thought that she had notice
him watching her in the mirror.” Baby,” he softly whispered
towards her, “You are so beautiful.” She opened her eyes and
saw him watching her in the mirror and became embarrassed
and smiled. As she turned towards him a tear rolled down her
cheek as she softly whispered “Thank you”.
14/F-STYLE CHICAGO