Blog It Anyway

I wrote this some time ago as a comment on this blog. It was related to nothing in particular; I just felt like writing it so it went into the comments of some post or other. Now I've found it again and, being short of ideas, I thought I'd upgrade it to a real post. I know, I know, I really must get down to some short story writing...

I was just standing in the bathroom, thinking and looking at my face in the mirror. I was thinking: if I ever get published, this is how I'd like my photo to be on the back inside cover. My hair was, for once, looking reasonably well-groomed with just the right amount of disarray at the front where it sweeps across above my forehead. I smoothed a bit at the back that was sticking up slightly, making my head look strangely distorted. It stayed put. My eyes were sunken but deep in thought and the expression was likewise suitably pensive, a slight frown and the mouth set. There was a line down one side of my face, slightly redder than the surrounding skin, probably left by the couch when I fell asleep in front of the television. But somehow this just added to the impression of rugged determination evident in the general expression. I noticed that the jawline was sagging a bit more and that two new lumps of flesh were beginning to fall away from the chin. If I moved my jaw slightly, these grew and shrank accordingly. The effect was not unpleasant; it had not been remarked before, that's all. I am getting old and have no regrets about it. Yes, I thought, this would make a suitable photograph, worn but not defeated, obviously intelligent.

Then I noticed that there was a piece of skin flaking off the very tip of my nose. As I scratched it off, leaving a tiny red spot, I thought, who am I kidding? I looked up and smiled at God.

Technorati tags: Photos; Faces.