Hello mirror. Everything is packed and ready to go. Onto our next adventure. A new city, new friends, new place to call home. Don’t worry, other tenants will move into this apartment. The ebb and flow of life will continue like a raging perennial river streaming down a rocky terrain.
People come, people go, you stay.
You are the biggest safeguard of secrets. The nameless confidante that sees and hears all, but says nothing. The ear for venting mouths. The eye for those seeking comfort. You carry this responsibility without enervation or complaint.
Please share with me what you have seen… so your heart can feel a bit lighter.
Did you see the man dressed in a steel gray suit, fixing his tie in front of you, while he practiced for his nineteenth job interview that month?
Did you see that seven year old girl hiding in this restroom with her hands to her ears, while her parents screamed and argued about a trivial speeding ticket?
Did you see that twenty five year old woman with beautiful eyes and raven tresses falling down her soft shoulders, as she looked at you and complained about not being pretty enough?
Did you see the woman who thought she was’t tall enough, or the one who thought she wasn’t slim enough, or the one who thought she was too skinny to be appealing, or the one who wished she had bigger breasts, or the one who thought her heavy chest made her look unprofessional, or the one who wished for lighter skin, or the one who thought her complexion was ghostly pale, or the one who worried about the size of her waist? Did you see them all?
Did you see the blonde who looked at the pregnancy test and then at you and then at the test in disbelief, and then looked at you for a good five minutes, trying hard to contain the smile and laughter waiting to seep through her mouth?
Did you see that couple entwined in fiery love making, blissfully ignorant to the rest of the world, as they rocked against the wall in pure ecstatic euphoria?
Did you see the redheaded woman in her thirties with gloves on her hands, as she glared at every part of you, while she cleaned you spotless with a spray and scrap, bringing your shine back to life?
Did you see the seventeen year old boy who hid here to shoot up white powder into his nostrils, as he blinked and looked at you in a strange distant manner?
Did you see that twenty two year old shivering brunette who ran into this room hiding from her husband who was beating some ‘sense’ into her, as he aggressively pounded and banged on the door, while she looked at you and wept?
Did you see the man who talked to himself in front of you, fighting his inner battles, before facing the world outside with a warm and comforting smile?
Did you see the thirty five year old woman who would pleasure herself in the bath tub every now and then, for her husband couldn’t care less about her needs?
Did you see the twelve year old kid who stared bewildered at a magazine his friend had sneaked into his bag?
Did you see the lady who rubbed her pregnant belly, worried she may not live up to the task and responsibility that stood before her?
Did you see the man who stared at his receding hairline feeling powerless to control it?
Did you see the woman who looked at you peacefully and contently as she washed her face and prepared herself for prayer?
Did you see the blushing teen, who was excited about finally having her period yet daunted by the painful cramps she felt in her body?
Did you see the fifty year old woman wearing an elegant white dress, smiling beautifully at you as she put on her pearls and brushed on some makeup for a night out with the man who made her feel complete?
Did you see the worried mother who had just sent her little baby off to university two thousand miles away, and couldn’t bear to wait a year to see him again?
Did you see the confident twenty eight year old with a high ponytail, who joyously talked to you about her itinerary as she prepared for another adventurous solo trip across the world?
Did you see the eighteen year old who took nude selfies to send to her boyfriend, just to ‘fit in’ with how the world expected her to behave?
Did you see the man who stared at you for forty minutes without saying a word, as he clenched the disquieting oncologist report in his hand?
Did you see the love letters that the sad woman wrote in front of you to her husband who was fighting a war in some other land for a cause she did not care to understand?
Did you see the young man in blue scrubs who held his face in his fragile hands and cried because of the pain he saw in the eyes of the family of the patient he lost that day?
Did you see the mother of two toddlers and a five year old, who hid in the bathroom for a few moments of quiet?
Did you see the old gray couple who gave each other insulin shots as they enlivened each other with jokes and happy memories?
Did you see the woman who had just discovered that her spouse had been cheating on her for over a year, as she looked at you angrily as if it was your fault?
Tell me, did you see all those tears, those smiles, those groans and those screams? They all see you. Yet, they see through you. How does that make you feel?
Tell me, how does it feel to know for sure that none of these interactions were lies, none of them were fake, none of them were misleading truths or superficial facades. Tell me, how does it feel to know people in their purest and most vulnerable honest states?
Tell me.
