Monster 32

Angela

Looking at myself in the mirror was like looking at a stranger. I didn't recognise myself. The coiffed hair, the too pink cheeks. The dress that encased my body was hideous, the lace like something a grandmother would have in her windows. The skirt reminded me of a mushroom. The only good thing about my God-awful wedding dress was that it made my waist look tiny.

Ugh. I turned away in disgust. It was too hard to even look at myself. I wasn't the person who stared back at me. I never had been. It had been a role I was forced to play to stay alive and in my family's good graces. But it wasn't who I really was. As Monster would say, it was a mask I wore to hide my true self. And I was tired of hiding.

Being with him even for those short few weeks had made me realise how exhausting being two different people actually was. With Monster I could be myself. Even if I wasn't sure I knew exactly who that was. I had been two totally different people for as long as I could remember. Both