Mirror,Mirror On the Wall (446 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 0.42 on 11 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by BillyGoat (View user info) at 2008-09-30 22:47:37 EDT
Gold is heavy and shiny and when it's attached to a chain and moulded into a locket, it's beautiful.
She inserted a nail into the crease and her veins popped as she tried to pry it open. The locket had not been open for some time and the hinge had gone quite rigid and resistant. She tried once more but it wouldn't give so she lost patience and moved to the window sill and peered across, surveying the hoards of people enjoying the sunshine.
From there she could just about see the beach, hidden beneath the mass of tourists on their yearly migration from colder, more dreary countries. She didn't mind this annual intrusion because she liked people and loved people watching. Each specimen that paraded itself, only re-enforced what she already knew; that she had kept herself under control and not let herself go.
Through her binoculars she saw a wash of ugly people crowding the beach, trampling the sand like hungry hippos on the banks of the Zambezi. An image of heavy Neanderthal like footprints appeared in her mind and she struggled not to laugh as her nimble fingers rotated the oculars to clarify the image. Oh god what ruffians they all are she said to herself, noting the traditional sandals, garish 3 quarter pants and string vests favoured by the gents and the cheap faded bikinis, donned by their floozies. And the overwhelming display of flesh nauseated her; she could almost smell the fried fat in her nostrils. She couldn't understand why people were so oblivious to how disgusting they looked. Their overflowing mummeries hung from chunky freckled chests; their bellies bust through tiny tops knotted by giant misshapen navels that gleamed under the strain of the guts busting to get out. "Yuuuuk," a voice said as a fat lady waddled into view with her thighs rubbing together. A pulse flew down her thighs and she swore she could feel the skin begin to chaff. Everywhere she looked she was greeted by that same sight. Men and women of all ages, exhibiting themselves, weren't they ashamed? She'd never have allowed herself to be like that, let alone parade in front 10 000 people. "But then again, it's alright coz they all look the same," a voice said. "No it isn't," she hissed and put the binoculars down and turned away from the window.
She twisted back to a more comfortable position and her outstretched legs shown in the mirror at the foot of the bed. She pushed her toes onto the marble and raised her heel at the same time. She watched as her tanned calf bulged into a perfectly defined oblong unadulterated by an ounce of fat . Satisfied by what she saw, she slowly lifted the heel off the floor and her thigh muscle popped up and down, in unison with the right to left movement of her foot. Then she braced her hands on the window ledge and felt her buttocks tighten and the stomach muscles flatten as she pushed her chest foward. Once fully stretched, she released her grasp and relaxed back onto the window sill.
She was and had always been perfect. She needn't tell herself that for the many photoshoots, magazine covers, column inches and product endorsements gave enough evidence. Not to forget the slew of make up artists, hairdressers, photographers who fell over themselves just to tell her she was beautiful. Even when she was younger, she knew- the jealousy that permeated from other school girls as well as the contempt from her teachers was palpable. It was no secret that she was destined for great things and she milked each and every forced compliment that came her way. While other kids struggled with books, and their looks and teachers secretly fretted about how ugly their own kids were, she shimmied through her teenage years knowing that her future was set.
And they were right, the mirror never lies, it may distort, but it's only changing what's already there, she thought as she viewed herself once more. The perfection that so many people struggled to achieve with their diet fads and their punishing exercise routines, came naturally to her. While other girls hoofed coke down, binged on drink and dabbled in substances fighting to keep their weight down, she never changed. Science might point to a happy mixture of genes, but was that really the case? Even at their peak, her parents weren't the most striking of people. Her mum, the one time society queen was not all that and her looks faded along with her memory as she succumbed to Alzheimer's , and her dad, bless him, was a balding imbecile, who had to be sectioned early in her life. Her looks weren't just a happy scientific coincidence, there must have been a greater power at work-devine intervention certainly. She was special-no one needn't tell her that.
She fanned herself and the air glided across her naked body. But wasn't it the same devine intervention that had created the Venus de Willendorf, she mused. She'd read about her in one of the magazines and could never appreciate the claim that at one point her body was the gold standard in femininity.She often wondered how such a monstrosity became the symbol of beauty. How could anyone admire the chunky thighs, stumpy legs, protruding belly and saggy tits? What was hidden behind the puffy face? Was this what men fantasised about when the lanterns went out? Who knows how much seed was spilt in honour of this so called goddess. Yet she only had look outside, to see that the same, misshapen behemoths roaming about. She despised these modern day de Willendorfs, everything about them reeked of carelessness.
She was angry because they were so negligent about their own bodies. To her, they had hadly evolved and it had been 24000 years since that statue was made. It maddened her and she had to massage her skull to halt the fast approaching headache. after some time,the tight feeling ebbed away only to be replaced by a voice hammering away inside her brain.
"These people, these blasted people, what's wrong with them?" The sudden shifts in tone, pitch and volume made it hard to distinguish whether the voice was male or female."There are TV programmes, radio stations, magazines, internet sites, diet tsars, quacks, fitness fanatics devoted to handing out beauty tips, yet they still look like this." Her head felt hot as she desperately tried to contain the voice, but once started, she could never switch it off as the thoughts were mingled with own feelings and often she wasn't sure if she was hearing things or actually saying these things or was it a combination of both.
To quell the raging voice in her head, she pressed her palms against her ears and began humming to herself. The voice/she spoke even louder and she flung herself onto the bed and rolled around.
Without knowing it, she'd ripped the locket open. Inside was the picture taken on her first photoshoot when she had stopped to retouch her makeup. The little square mirror had perfectly framed her face and as she looked at herself, looking at herself, her brain told her she'd had never changed. The face was still thin, the hair -blonde, the nails were the same fiery red and the fingers as supple as the day she was born.
Standing out of focus was the dad who would be sectioned only two days after the shot. He lovingly watched his daughter, not knowing that her own troubles had begun. What began as headaches, turned into voices. Everywhere she looked people/ the voice/ who? was saying she was beautiful and everything else was ugly. She knew something was up but she refused to get help in case it jeopardised her career. The last thing the fashion industry needed was yet another model with issues.
She squinted her eyes as hard as she could to block out the voices in her head. She found herself bumping against the bedframe as she unconsciously made her way to the cupboard in search for the risperidone she'd been prescribed. By the time she got to the hallway she'd slipped on a blue bikini and redone her make up.
And now the voices returned with more vim, urging her towards the beach. As she got closer, she became more aware of the same envious looks she'd received all those years ago. She strutted past like she was on a catwalk and stopped a few times as if to pose.
Of course she didn't notice the shock on their faces.
User Reviews
Submitted by write-of-way (user info) at 2008-10-02 15:25:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
First round voting ends Friday at midnight!
Give them a read even if they won by forfeit, there's some really good stuff.
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Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2008-10-01 09:19:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2008-10-01 07:20:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Uhhhh, hope that wasn't a swipe at ME!
No, I think you were pretty subtle at it. Much more of a take would have been overkill.
Submitted by TheGoat (user info) at 2008-10-01 07:05:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Aww thanks Kaos.
any tips on how i could have improved the character to make her narcissistic disorder more obvious?
Submitted by zoobie2000 (user info) at 2008-10-01 06:55:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
would have been +1 if it wasn't for the mistakes
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2008-10-01 06:51:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nah, I don't mind that last line. It ties the pic in well.
Overall, a good Uber post in my opinion...
Submitted by TheGoat (user info) at 2008-10-01 06:43:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
should have done better. by the way, this is not a dig at anyone. its written from the point of view of someone who suffers from narcissistic personality disorder and some kind of schizophrenia. so so she is always judgemental and wants everything to be about her hence the extreme views.
according to wikipedia there are seven characteristics that may hint at the disorder: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder
and the first line is crap and so is the final paragraph.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2008-10-01 06:38:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was actually quite good except for that opening line...
Submitted by EmissionImpossible (user info) at 2008-10-01 04:03:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Gold is heavy and shiny
-------------------------
Really!
Submitted by Doodles (user info) at 2008-10-01 00:51:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
ohh, fuck you.
Submitted by UnknownEntity (user info) at 2008-10-01 00:35:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
hot!!!!