I see Laura

When I was younger I did not know myself, or understand myself. I used to see a stranger in the mirror. This short story is about finally knowing myself.

I used to look into the mirror, bewildered, not recognizing the human staring back. I would stare deeply into those eyes and desperately search. For what? Recognition, Familiarity, Comfort? The person I saw was always strange and shifty. Frankly, she frightened me. I couldn't watch her without becoming uncomfortable, uneasy, unsettled. I did not know the girl looking back at me. She felt like someone I happened live near, or passed occasionally. Sometimes I would come across my reflection and be taken aback, startled, and think that I was not alone. I would sit in my bedroom and study the deep brown eyes in the mirror, trying to feel something, or anything at all. I would cry, I would laugh, but it never felt genuine.

Now when I look in the mirror I see Laura. She pops her fingers when she gets nervous. She unintentionally smiles when she sees a child. She cannot pass an open drawer or cabinet without closing it. She loves her family. She sings in the car. She hates being cold. When she laughs really hard you can see the silver cap on her very back tooth. She loves a very special woman. She is empathetic to a fault, she is sweet, she is funny, she loves her life. I know her desires, dreams, and fears. I love this girl and what she has become. I know Laura, she is me and I am her, we are the same now.

Reviews

[Kaylor Mason]

I wish I had that degree of self-clarity. I still don't recognize the man I see in the mirror every morning. I don't believe I ever have. I don't think I ever will