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I found myself staring. Staring at what you may ask? The ceiling? The blue, cloud painted sky? The wildflowers sprinkled across the grass? Being at Texas ChalleNGe Academy, you don’t have a variety of things to look at, but no. That’s not what I was staring at. I was staring at my reflection, using the door of the washing machine as a mirror.
I happened to get called out one day, away from the loudness and negativity contained in a small bay. When I was looking at my reflection, I saw a girl I did not recognize. Let me paint the picture for you. Here was a girl with long straight hair, flowing down her shoulders. Her face not even touched with a hint of makeup. You’d call that natural beauty? I called it vulnerability. Though it isn’t important for the message of the story, the girl hidden behind the “I” and “she” is me, Cadet Spangler.
A lot of things crossed my mind, staring at a me I did not recognize. At the time it was about three months since I saw myself with my face bare and my hair down since we do not have mirrors in the bay. As I said previously, “You’d call that natural beauty? I’d call it vulnerability.”
