daylight,
Literary: Unmasked
She placed her hands on her mask, ending up frozen in place. Her mask’s bright smile was contrasted by the blue aura coming out from underneath. The usual yellow aura was no longer around her. Her hands started shaking and her breathing became ragged, as if at any moment she would break down. She threw her arms down and screamed, “I can’t…!”
From the mask’s eyes, tears leaked out. Even though what she’s showing me is a smile, it’s clear that she isn’t happy at all.
“I can’t take it off… I’m scared…”
I stepped forward and grabbed her hands, “Hey, hey, it’s alright.”
Before I could get any closer, she withdrew her hands from me and took a few steps back. She was shaking. She then looked at me, scared of what she had done.
“It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine.”
“Really, it’s really fine.”
“No it’s not! I want to show you what’s under my mask, but I’m too scared you’ll hate me. I’d rather hide under this mask than be hurt all over again…”
She collapsed to the ground and started hugging her knees. “It’s cold…”
Her aura was starting to get unstable. The blue that was leaking out was suddenly starting to bleed purple, and then into an even darker blue. There were countless things that passed through my mind on what I could do, but none of them seem to help with this situation. I… don’t want to be helpless again. I need to find a way to comfort her, but how?!
Then suddenly, a thought popped up in my mind. It was a crazy idea, but… it might just work.
I knelt down to her level, so that we could see eye to eye. When she saw me, she looked away. My hands slowly reached to a mask, not hers, but mine. In a slow, but fluid motion, I removed my mask in front of her.
“W-what!? What are you doing!?”
I contemplated about the answer to that question as I dropped my mask to the ground. I lightly chuckled as I told her, “I thought it was unfair for me to ask you to remove your mask on your own, so I took the initiative and removed mine first.”
I took her hand, this time she wasn’t inclined on taking it away. “I’ve never even seen my face under the mask, so you’re the first person who has ever seen me.”
She was too shocked by what I did. She looked at our hands and at my eyes alternately, trying to make sense of what happened. Her mouth was opening and closing, as if she wanted to say something. After a few minutes of silence, she finally spoke, “I’m sorry, I’m too scared to take off my own mask.”
I nodded my head, “Yeah, it’s fine, I understand.”
“And you wouldn’t be the first to see me.”
“Yeah, again, it’s totally fine.”
“Even though I can’t take my mask off myself… I can let you take it off for me. Would you like that?”
“Yeah— ” I stuttered my words to a stop when I had realized what she had just said. I looked away for a moment before looking back into her eyes. “A-are you sure? This is your mask we’re talking about.”
She was twiddling her thumbs as she looked down at our hands, “I’m sorry that I’m a coward, but could you take this step for me?”
At this point, my heart was conflicted. I really wanted to see the person underneath, but I didn’t want to do it for her. I want her to be strong on her own and do it for herself. I don’t want her to rely on me to take the step for her, but… I can hear her say please. The blue aura around her is whispering me to do it. She really wants to, and she needs help with that first little step. After thinking for a while, I took a deep breath. “I’ll do it.”
The aura around her flashed a hint of excitement. There was a moment where it flashed a patch of yellow, then suddenly it returned to a deep blue.
Slowly, I reached for the mask that covered her face. My heart was beating so fast, and I was sure that hers was too. I took the mask and carefully removed it…
Underneath her unmoving smile was a frown, with lips being softer than the stiff smile she shows to people. Her aura which was constantly shifting from radiant yellow to deep night blue turned into a sea blue, the color of a calm sea. As she stared back at me, her eyes filled my sight. Eyes that usually was so full of energy, now sparkling with tears. Her usual liveliness was replaced with a solemn quiet. As she waited for my reply, I just stared blankly at her with only one thought in my mind. Her everything is just so…
“…Beautiful.”
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