Also, Would anyone be able to tell me how many words it is?
My computer doesn't have word, so i can't use the -oh so useful- word count.
Prompt: "Our realities are never determined solely by ourselves."
Steam rose from the ceramic tub, wafting scents of rose and lavender around the tiny room. tentatively she dipped an elegant toe into the scalding water, before surrendering her body to it completely. she let the liquid consume her, it was like being cocooned by a warm doona. she let the grim and the dirt from that sweltering afternoon be washed off her delicate skin, all her impurities. the heat allowed her mind to relax, to gather its thoughts and organise them in a linear fashion. she allowed herself to drift to a place she loved, a place where things were as they ought to be, and where boys and girls read love poems to one another.
Suddenly, her thoughts were ambushed by dark clouds. Images flashed before her eyes. the screaming started. She jack-knifed out of her ceramic sanctuary. She could see herself standing before shattered glass, her face streaked with mascara tears.
"No!" She screamed "You can't do this, stay away from me, this isn't right!" her voice rose in hysteria. her body shook from the sudden onslaught of shock to her system. she stumbled back from the glittering remains, her hand at her mouth.
Just as suddenly she was sitting back in the bathtub again. she leapt out silently, her heart fluttering. with shaky hands she reached for a pastel towel and wrapped it around her self. Now she stood before the mirror that stretched to the ceiling. she examined herself closely, the lines around her eyes that dared give away speculation to her thirty odd years stared menacingly back at her.
"Oi! Hurry up in there will you." Yelled a voice through the keyhole.
People shouldn't yell, she decided, it was rather unbecoming to them. she leant closer to the mirror, then leapt back, startled. the reflection was not the same, shelves now lined the opposing wall, and a small bed replaced the steaming tub. She saw him coming, she saw the lust in his eyes. she heard the rip of the seam of her blue chiffon dress.. she felt her barricades come crashing down around her.
"Ha Ha! Ha ha ha!" he spat into her face. He told her she was nothing, she had nothing, that nobody wanted her, that she was just all airs and graces. In her piteous state, his cruel words penetrated her fragile mind, fighting against the walls she'd built up so long ago.
"No, no, no, no, no." She muttered weakly, but she she saw now what she couldn't before; she saw the many men she'd let into her life, her bed, she saw the enraged principal disgusted at her actions. She saw Allen Grey, the poor boy with his brains blown out the turned off the spotlight in her life. so many people that had once been a part of her, their words and actions assaulted her in vicious packs.
"Don't worry sweetheart," he whispered in her ear "we've had this date from the beginning."
Her eyes snapped open again. She was staring at the ceiling fan, the tiled bathroom walls. She breathed the air in deep. the familiar scent of rose and lavender filled her mouth and nose. Rising slowly, she turned again to face the mirror. She collected a white robe which she tied tightly around her waist.
"Stop being silly," She chided herself.
"Why in this state," she noted her disheveled hair "you'll be thrown to the street."
Her small smile wavered. "Never let someone see you in unflattering circumstances." she repeated the words her mother had told her, back at Belle-reve.
"No one will acknowledge you unless you are fit to the acknowledged, and you," she laughed "are in no fit state at all."
She reached up to the medicine cabinet, pulling out a sequined make-up bag from within. opening lids she commenced a routine she knew well. her hands fluttered and brushes skimmed against her delicate skin, colour his her uneven skin tone, masking her fears. Behind her war mask she felt safe once again. Besides, everyone knew a women's charm was 50% illusion anyway.
Now she stared into her reflection once more, her shoulders seemed lighter. She smiled, she looked softer now, was she glowing?
"Honey?" and anxious voice enquired from beyond the door, "are you alright in there?"
"why of course i am," she replied "do you think i'd have drowned in the bath?" she laughed at her own joke.
She glanced quickly back at the mirror one last time before unlocking the door. there she stood, looking the same as she had for the past ten years. there was something different about her eyes, she thought fleetingly, but the quickly shrugged it off. She knew this routine , the thought opening the wooden door. The steps were easy to follow, and besides, she had a future to long to now, one involving the smell of the sea air and unwashed grapes; one that would make her desirable by society. she smiled, wondering what could have come over her before to cause such silliness.
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