This week's Write on Wednesdays challenge was to use the first Facebook status you come across as the prompt for five minutes of writing. A friend's status of 'Feeling Good' inspired this short piece, which stemmed from a conversation I had with a customer at work yesterday. It's a little different from the kind of writing I usually do. Let me know what you think :)
Feeling good.
Standing back from the mirror, her gaze ran down her reflection from head to toe. She could finally see more than just the wide hips and post-pregnancy belly. Her eyes were no longer transfixed on the mole on her left cheek. The wrinkles around her eyes it now occurred to her could be laughter lines, rather than evidence of her depression. There had been a time when she had laughed.
The dark circles were beginning to disappear as the insomnia she had suffered with for so long began to loosen its grip.
Stretching out her neck, she realised with an inner smile that the bruises had faded. Her pale skin was unmarked. Untarnished. She couldn’t remember the last time her skin had looked that way. Would the memories fade just as the bruises had?
Her appearance no longer sent feelings of self-hatred through to her core. Her thoughts were no longer critical. The years of abuse and insults had made her beauty invisible to her. But no longer.
She was feeling good. Feeling free. Feeling beautiful.
xx
I liked this. I liked that you concentrated on the "getting better" part of abuse, rather than the abuse itself. Oftentimes, writing isn't about feeling better after something goes wrong, but instead about the something that went wrong.
ReplyDelete<3 Kiersten
http://kierstenevan.blogspot.com
I like the introspection. I agree with what Kiersten said about the focus on the healing. And the memories do fade.
ReplyDeleteJust like Kiersten I enjoyed how this focused on the getting better. The "inner smile" was a wonderful touch, it really helped me to relate to your character and how she was feeling. A powerful thing to be able to smile from within.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this. Funny you mentioned that this isn't your usual style? I think you did it well
Gill
Found you through Wow and I'm glad I did. I'm looking forward to hearing about your travels.
ReplyDeleteI love the positive spin you put on this. The reflection with the knowledge that life was on the up. Really good.