Out of the corner of her eye

She is walking briskly past. She seems to be in a hurry. But then something catches her eye. She didn't notice it before, as though her eyes were shut to the world. Or at least shut off from the image that is now before her. It's like she has seen it out of the corner of her eye, just all of a sudden and now she stops. And she stares. Transfixed.

I wonder what she's thinking. If she likes what she sees. She looks as though it's something she's seen before, but I wonder if she approves. A smile crosses her face. I guess so. The lines on her face begin to change. There are a lot of lines for that face - she looks young. She doesn't look more than 25. Her skin is soft or at least it looks that way. There are wrinkles. Not many, but when she smiles you can notice them. Around the cheeks, near the eyes and there's a dimple. No, two. One on each side. And the outline of one in her chin.

Suddenly the smile fades. There is a furrow of the brow. Just the one. That looks funny to watch - when a person only moves one eyebrow. The smile has turned upside down. A frown appears across her face and there are lines not from a smile, but heading southward as though she frowns too much. Too often. There are lines in her forehead and I wonder if she's noticed they're there. She lets out a sigh. I take it that's a yes.

A thousand thoughts must be racing through her head now and I wonder if they'd make any sense to her. How many times as she's walked past that image has she ever stopped to notice it. To really take it in. She stands in a slumpish mode now. Her back hunched, her shoulders lifeless.

Her eyes are wide and gleaming. She is taking it all in. This sight that stands before her. But she looks disapproving. Discontented. Almost as though she's wondering how she came to this and what can she possibly do to fix it. She seems to ponder.... life, love, work.


Another sigh.

It is an odd image when you look in the mirror.