I am Beautiful

     She clenched the pearls tightly in her right hand and rubbed them like a worry stone.  Her fingers moved over the smooth surface as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes looked exhausted. They were outlined by black circles and a furrowed brow.  She widened her eyes and lifted her eyebrows. No, she still looked tired.  Her makeup bag was opened on the tile bathroom counter. She laid the pearls down and rummaged through the polka dotted bag, lightly touching the contents with her dry hands.  There were three lip glosses she had forgotten she had, a foundation that was too pale, and an old tube of mascara. The sun filtered through the small bathroom window and illuminated the top left corner of the mirror, casting a small glimmer of light onto her face.

     She sighed and leaned into the counter with her full body weight and examined her face closer. Her fingers ran from the corners of her eyes and then, down around her mouth. Dry lips and the beginning of wrinkles were the best things she could find. The worst things were those horrible black circles. She glanced back at the makeup bag that had gone untouched for three, maybe four months.  She turned the hot water on and examined her face up-close once more while she waited for the water to get warmer.  She bent over and splashed the warm water on her face, massaging it in deeply. The salt from her tears mixed with the fresh water and she sat on the small black chair in the corner of the bathroom.  The spring breeze danced behind the curtain, lifting it up and escaping onto her face. 

     The fresh air embraced her and blew against her red cotton shirt. She looked up and saw the pearls lying on top of the makeup bag, with the small bit of sun soaking them in warm yellow.  She had always preferred pearls to diamonds and daisies to roses.  She was, in every sense of the word, simple-- at least in her own opinion.  A simple tired girl. A simply tired girl. She couldn't decide which fit her best.  The jasmine shampoo from her shower still lingered in the air and she realized that jasmine was no "simple" scent to choose, but one that was exotic and bold like she wished to be. The wet cream colored towel laid bunched up on the floor along with the clothes she had changed out of.

     Birds sang outside and she sat there taking in their song of spring.  She regained her composure, stood again at the mirror and looked into her own green eyes.  She set the makeup bag aside,but put the pearls on- letting them fall between her breasts.  She lifted her wet hair off of her shoulders and pulled it back in a ponytail. The pearls looked like porcelain white teeth against red lips as they lay against her shirt.  Tomorrow would bring another shower, more doubts and tired eyes, but that was tomorrow.

     I am simply beautiful. 

    The sun kissed her cheek as the breeze blew the curtain away from the window once more.