The Strange

The world would be much easier without mirrors

Misa Ferreira de Rezende
a Few Words
2 min readJan 14, 2021

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“Courtesy of Sergio Ricciuto”

The woman finally decided on plastic surgery. The doctor watched her face carefully, took pictures from the front and in profile. Then he passed the photos on a large screen on the wall and explained the details that he, as an expert on the subject, thought should be changed to improve the appearance of the woman’s face.

Of course, she had already seen thousands of pictures of her face, in fact, that was the reason she looked for a plastic surgeon because she saw in old films and sincere mirrors, how old she was. But that big screen, almost obscene, showed her face wide open. She was surprised and wondered who would be that lady with crow’s feet, tired eyes, and wrinkles around her mouth. That face didn’t seem to be hers. That woman seemed so strange to her. Anyway, she asked for a time to think about it.

When she left the clinic, without a screen or a mirror where she could see herself, the woman felt better and thought the world would be much easier without mirrors. Now, it’s me, she said to herself, feeling the real woman that was inside her, realizing she was more than that fragile physical image.

One thing was certain: Perhaps the surgery could bring some satisfaction, but she knew it would momentary, even a dangerous euphoria. What was worth and reliable was the one that could not be seen, but existed boldly inside her. I am an old woman, she thought, a little sad but delighted.

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Misa Ferreira de Rezende
a Few Words

I write because the world enchants me, death frightens me and life amazes me. I am a writer. “About me” stories