Windows to the Soul

When Mag was young, she was told that the eyes were the windows to the soul. Some other kids at her orphanage would play games revolving around that idea and would pick out souls and soul types based on what they saw when they looked into each other's eyes. They would describe each other and their souls after judging what they saw in each other's eyes. It was a silly little game yet it carried a strange fascination such that every kid in the orphanage wanted to play it, even blind Mag.

"Can you read my eyes next?" she asked one day, wanting to be included in the game.

"What? Are you nuts?!" the boy she asked sneered. "You're blind. We can't see past that filmy stuff!"

"Filmy stuff?" Mag echoed, voice half its original volume as she could feel the rising disdain.

"Yeah!" the boy repeated. "Your eyes are all blurry and stuff. Nobody will be able to read them!"

"Guess somebody decided to draw the curtains on those windows!" one girl joked, earning a few laughs from the other children while Mag continued to step backwards.

"Does this mean I don't have a soul?" she asked.

"Duh!" the first boy shouted at her again. "You're a soulless freak! Now go away and let us normal kids play!" Mag never made the mistake of asking another person about her eyes again.

Or at least, she never asked another person about her old eyes again. When she got new ones, which actually worked, she asked about them right away.

"Marni?" Mag asked her friend one night while they were eating out.

"Yeah Mag?" Marni looked up from her plate.

"They say that eyes are the windows to the soul, so what does my soul look like?" it took all of Mag's strength to ask this burning question. Marni looked confused by it, but only for a moment before she began to chuckle.

"Oh Mag. I don't think you'd believe me," she answered with a smile.

"Of course I would!" Mag protested, scooting closer to Marni. "So please, read my eyes!"

"Alright," Marni caved, leaning closer to peer in at Mag's new eyes. A moment later, she gave an answer. "I see something beautiful, powerful, new, shining, mysterious, and unique," she declared. "When I look into your eyes, I see a woman of great beauty and talent, but there is no unwarranted pride to be seen!"

"Oh, surely you didn't see all that?" Mag was blushing as she drew away from Marni.

"See, I told you that you wouldn't believe!" Marni exclaimed.

"Sorry Marni," Mag grinned sheepishly. "It's just so hard to believe all that," but Marni only winked in reply.

Later that night, Mag looked into the bathroom mirror, trying to read up on what she saw. What did these new windows to the soul mean? Could she see inside herself now? Would she be able to read her future or categorize herself or whatever it was this soul-reading was supposed to do? Her eyes were lovely and unique, very different from everybody else's. Did this mean she and her soul were also lovely and very different? Or were her new eyes giving faulty readings because they weren't technically eyes? Mag couldn't tell if she was seeing her soul or not because she didn't know what a soul looked like.

Years later, Mag made a horrific revelation. She had come to see her boss, Rotti, as the Devil. Now she made a frightening connection between that idea and why she was stuck with him. Rotti was the Devil and he took away Mag's real eyes. He took away the windows to her soul. In exchange, he gave her something more in tuned with the art of instant gratification, but he gave her something false. They weren't real windows to the soul anymore that a replacement, robo-limb was a real arm or leg!

In essence, Mag had sold her soul to the Devil. That was why she could never read her eyes. That was why she didn't know what a soul looked like even after getting eyes that could see. It because these seeing "eyes" were fake. They weren't really windows to the soul. Mag couldn't see her soul. Maybe she didn't even have one. Maybe she was a soulless demon. After all, what other kind of decent person would work for a man as cruel and greedy as Rotti?

Late one night, Mag found herself looking into the mirror again, trying again to read her eyes. When she still was uncertain of whether or not she could see anything, she was forced to admit defeat and confess that she couldn't see her soul because she didn't have one. She had sold it away in exchange for something that she now wished that she could return. She had no real eyes. She had no soul. She was nothing.

AN: More weird philosophy on Mag's eyes and the concept of eyes=soul! Sorry if this stuff bores you.