a boy presses his face against the window, his lips touching the glass, leaving lip marks against the fogged window. his face lights up, each freckle illuminates as his cheeks rise. two dents appear on the bottom of his cheeks. he blows a deep breath through his teeth as his annoying black hair cover his eyes, blocking out his vision for a second.
ethereal is painted onto his fingers as he gingerly works on his window, taping stars onto the glass. he licks the tip of his index finger and peels the seal off a particularly big star, taping onto the window with a satisfying slap. his cheeks lift up to smile at the window, his reflection smiling right back at him.
he frowns suddenly as he finally notices his star-studded cheeks. picking up an eraser, he grips it tightly and rubs it against his right cheek, his frown deepening as the spots don't go away.
"mom, the stars won't go away." his voice hits a note of hysteria, eyes glistening as the debris from the eraser floats down to the desk he is sitting on. a woman bursts into the boy's room, her blouse stained with cerulean paint. the boy's eyes widen as he notices that his mother also has his star-studded cheeks painted onto her pretty face.
"tadashi...." she trails off.
"why won't they go away?" a crystalline droplet dribbles down the stars he hates so much. his taste buds soon taste the droplet, the salt tear exploding in his mouth.
"tadashi. we, me and you both, are born with this. i know you're only five, but you have to understand and embrace this." she places her soft hand onto tadashi's left cheek, her thumbs rubbing the very blemishes that tadashi wishes would leave.
"and hey, if you ever feel bad about them.", she hugs tadashi tightly, her cerulean painted sleves dripping onto tadashi's pink shirt.
"you can always close your eyes." she finishes, drawing back and flashing a warming smile that tadashi wish he could possess. he looks back at the window and closes his eyes.
his mom is right.
he cannot see a thing.
