Rainy Day Stories

What Love Isn't...

Written for the Weekend Write In Challenge (Nov. 17-19 -- "Free")

The woman staring in the mirror was showing her age. Faint lines were becoming more noticeable at the outer corners of her eyes, and there was a slackness along her jawline that wasn't so apparent a few years ago. Her smile was her best feature brightening her eyes and giving her countenance a playful look. Without the grin she looked every bit of the four decades she'd spent on this earth.

Her husband had found a younger, firmer version of the woman he married eighteen years before. Patricia wondered how much silicone the new Mrs. had inserted and injected into her body to give her the perfect figure her ex seemed to worship. Patricia had always preferred the gym and working out over surgical interventions to keep in shape. Natural beauty over the faux, purchased fixes. She had planned on aging gracefully until...

Well, it was water under the bridge. The man--she thought she'd grow old with--had decided to ignore the whole "death do us part" of their vows, and Patricia knew it was rare to have that kind of love in today's world. Still, she had hoped to defy the odds.

At forty-six she wasn't ready to spend her life alone. Even the men she met were always on the prowl for the younger woman who would find them attractive, or financially secure enough to capture their attention.

With a hand placed at each side of her face, she pulled her skin taut and peered through narrowed eyes at her reflection. A huff of frustration issued from her as she looked at the bizarre face in the mirror. She released the tension and her worn familiar features were back. Who could LOVE that! She threw a hair brush at the reality before her.

Every magazine cover, the TV shows, movies mocked her existence. She was only half way through her life. If she was a man, she'd still be considered in her prime. No way was she going to lie down and let her life pass her by, she was going to live her life on her terms.

She continued to eat healthy, work out, and wear clothing that looked and felt good on her. She had fun with her friends and worked hard. She cancelled all her subscriptions to magazines that solely promoted youth, and returned to reading the books she loved instead of watching TV.

One thing she knew, love wasn't free. There was a price when you opened your heart, and she had almost let the demise of her marriage extract too large a toll. Patricia had come close to changing the woman she had become, when her grief blinded her to the grace and beauty before her.

Someday, some fantastic man might recognize her value. For now, Patricia would honor the woman in the mirror.