This prompt is from blogreedsy.com — “Write a story that involves a reflection in a mirror”
Kayla pushed her trolley filled with clothing and made her way to the cash registers. She’d finally decided to get new clothing after gaining weight during the pandemic. None of her clothes could fit, she could barely move in her blazers and none of her jeans could button. It was time, she’d decided, to embrace who she had become. She’d forgotten that about a month ago, the store had piloted its flexible checkout system. They’d done away with cash registers and introduced store attendants who moved around the store with portable card readers. What was previously a row of cash registers was now a wall of full body mirrors spanning the entire length and height of the wall. The bulbs hung above concentrated light on the mirrors. She hadn’t intended to look but the glimpse she caught of herself in the mirror stopped her dead in her tracks. Frightened, she took two steps back to move out of the view of the mirrors. She took a deep breath and could feel herself tremble and water fill her eyes. She scanned the room for the attendant to swipe her card. In order to get to the only attendant she could see, she had to walk past the wall of mirrors again.
She took a deep breath, two steps forward and came into full view of her body. It’d been a while since she’d seen herself. Like really looked at herself, she hadn’t really seen her new body. She’d covered the full body mirror in her room but kept her makeup mirror up. She could lose herself in her makeup for hours. Now, she was looking at herself. It was a relief to see what she had been feeling for months now. She’d touch herself and feel her growing body. Her body had carried her through so much, through an entire pandemic. She ought to have been more grateful to it for walking the long road with her. It had always been the two of them, her and her body. A beautiful extension of herself but she hadn’t always felt that way.
She often went to bed feeling broken from the intense exercise. She usually curled up in bed and used heat packs to tend to the aches. She dreaded the mornings the most, the alarm, the fumbling in darkness to get out of bed in time, the exercise. She decided to put an end to it all at the height of the pandemic. A part of it was the cold of the winter, she wanted to sleep in, eat more hearty soups and look forward to the morning again. She focused on getting through the pandemic instead. She joined virtual reading, sewing and knitting communities and immersed herself in learning how to crochet, knit and sew. She made sure to check in with friends and family often. She stayed on top of work, never missing deadlines and always putting her best foot forward.
It was like she was meeting herself for the first time and she was smitten. She was beautiful and radiant. She felt at home in her new body. She brought the shirt up to her chest to check if it was the right size for her. She’d been too scared to try on the clothing so she’d rolled her shopping cart past the changing room. In front of the room, she twirled a little and imagined the shirt on herself. The yellow contrasted perfectly with her skin. “That will be gorgeous on you!” exclaimed a lady also preoccupied by the mirrors. Kayla could see it and was glad someone else could see it as well. She smiled, heartily and then brought the maxi skirt to her waist. It would be perfect for the summer days just around the corner.
“Aren’t you lovely!” she whispered to herself. She could see her parents in her face, in her body. She was the spitting image of her dad and built just like her mother. She could see who she was in that mirror. The lights above the mirrors made her reflection even more luminous. She was over the moon with who she was. She lost herself in the mirror, admiring and smiling at her reflection. She chuckled because she’d worked so hard not to become this lovely person she was now. She’d tried every diet program and even more exercise programs. She was now face to face with the person she’d fought so hard not to be. And she loved everything about the woman she saw in the mirror. She was lovely, gracious and gorgeous. She wondered how long she’d been starring at herself and shook herself to bring herself back to attention. She was glad for this encounter with herself.
