Mirror

From a distance, I saw a girl alone, crying with her head on her knees.  I watched the people walking past her and noticed no one stopped to see if she was alright, no one saw her at all. Her face, damp from tears and red from pain, had an uncanny familiarity. As I moved closer, I felt as if I had seen her somewhere before… walking down the street, in a park, or perhaps in a dream. As her eyes, darkened with sadness and abuse, met mine, I knew why I recognized her. Those were the eyes I saw every day. The ones that ridiculed me and saw every flaw. The ones that ripped me up inside, yet cried afterwards. An irrepressible rage struck me, and I smiled as the glass fell around me. I smiled because I thought that maybe I would disappear. I smiled until I looked down into the tiny shards, and I saw that girl, just as broken as before.