Friday, November 04, 2005 @7:46 AM
someone wrote this short story. hmm, just read it first. i'll comment later"Beautiful means you have to be perfect. In order to be perfect, you have to be satisfied with who you are and how you look. I'm not perfect, therefore I am not beautiful."
And she left.
She knew girls wanted to be just like her. Guys wanted to be with her. She accepted both facts graciously yet she was afraid to tell the truth.
She wasn't the beautiful girl.
She had long, jet black hair. Hair so healthy, it shined from roots to ends. Her radiant smile revealed teeth that stood in perfect alignment, and a gleaming shade of white, something rare without dental surgery. Through her smile, it gave comfort and brought joy to those around her.
Around her.
She was an amazing athlete though her frame was small and thin. She didn't allow her shortcomings become an obstacle in anything she did. It was hard, trying to be beautiful. But she strived to be perfect; she wanted to be the beautiful girl everybody said she was.
She was open to everything and accepting. She always gave good advice and she never turned one away. When it came to academics, she was competitive yet willing to help her rivals. She had nothing against anyone and nobody had anything against her. She lived a pretty nice life. More would say her life was perfect and so was she.
What she saw in herself never appeared before anybody. It never made itself known, she pretended it didn't exist.
It grew within her, the invisible. To her it was opaque because it wasn't exactly transparent. It has power and it confided in her with its strength. She was compelled to be its companion yet longed to be free of it. It told her secrets and successes of being beautiful and how to be beautiful.
She listened. And learned.
She only attended school 173 days out of the required 180. She had gotten too busy and was unable to finish school for the year. She was a senior.
Also the valedictorian.
The beautiful valedictorian.
It baffled the student body, they were stunned. It was like a cryptic riddle, a puzzle with a missing piece that will never be found or recovered. Everybody knew the beautiful girl. She was the smart, sweet, and talented girl who was perfect. But they didn't realize she never stood tall and perfect. No. No, they didn't. She only allowed them to understand she was beautiful and constantly perfecting and upgrading herself.
When the invisible told her the key to being beautiful is to aim high—she did. She aimed too high. It was beyond her reach. But she was determined to win. And she did.
She became a legend.
When she won, she didn't feel anything. She was lightheaded from the whole ordeal but her heart remained heavy as though she didn't go the extra ten miles she normally would. But it told her she did well.
She didn't need to carry on. She somewhat felt relieved because she was worn out. She was tired and she needed rest.When she drifted off to sleep, her companion was slowly diminishing. It extracted itself from her body and danced away with the light breeze that occassionally came by to usher it along its way to another young girl. The further it floated, the weaker the beautiful girl got. Even in a deep sea of unconsciousness, the beautiful girl struggled to grasp onto the last of her evaporating friend. But it was too late. It was gone.
-
Before she left, she explained the meaning of being beautiful. At first, nobody understood her.
Then it hit home.
She was having issues.When she departed, it didn't occur to anybody she had issues with herself. She constantly debated and argued with the one inside her. It was wrong of her to conceal habits that developed in the ninth grade. As time went by, it dimmed and united as one with her body. She entrusted her life to it and gave away her soul for the secret to leading a beautiful life. She was a walking bag of bones and blood.
She was anorexic.
She didn't like how she was living or how she looked because she felt fat. She often punished herself by forcing herself to vomit. It had told her it was a beautiful ritual performed by people who wanted to be thin and perfect. She had to follow three rules if she wanted everybody to believe she was truly beautiful. She had to fast, fast, and vomit. Modern society didn't accept girls for who they are but how they appeared. She often looked in the mirror and saw a figure other than hers. It was a distorted image displayed before her eyes. It was an ugly loser. Not somebody beautiful.
When the last of her battle with anorexia came to an end, she believed she had won. She did. She won her freedom. As she felt her life slip right from her hands, she suddenly felt beautiful. She soared high above the sky to announce to the world she had finally accomplished her dream and wish to be beautiful. But sadly, the world found out on the 175th day of the school year.
The beautiful girl became a legend.
A beautiful legend.
It never left. It was her that diminished and evaporated. But what difference did it make? She didn't know or understand the difference. She only recognized one thing and that was she finally got rid of anorexia. She untangled herself from the mess the moment she shot too high. She proved to herself and the world that you can be beautiful and successful at the same time if you put your mind to it.
What a nice way to remember her.
Services were held a week following graduation. While students marched on to receive their diplomas and smiling sadly, they knew deep down inside no matter how much makeup they put on, how fancy their clothes were, they were not as beautiful as the girl.
There wasn't a single person she knew from school that didn't attend her funeral. There were also her cousins, her aunts and uncles, her grandparents—everybody from near and far—all attended.
A special ceremony was held. Just because she was beautiful and perfect.
Everybody burned their lunches in memory of the beautiful girl.
simple and deep. hmm, i don't really want to comment too much. it's you guys to comment