A Fragile Mask

I. I’m Fine Look at me, I’m smiling. I look so happy. Everything is perfect. She had learned to wear happiness like a mask upon her face, so colorful and captivating that no one could see what was underneath. So convincing that even she could believe it herself, allowing her to forget everything else. Because telling the truth felt dangerous. What if the people she loved left after seeing what was hidden beneath the surface? What if falling apart meant falling out of everyone’s life? So she lied. Not because she wanted to deceive anyone, but because she was afraid of being alone. The lie became a shelter. And the mask became a way to stay. II. My Smile Was a Mask Everything was an act. Behind the colors, I had been dying for a long time. It was a performance meant to hide the ways I was falling apart. All this time, she had pretended to be whole and standing strong, while silently dying a little more from within with every passing moment. The mask had protected her for so long that letting it go felt almost as frightening as telling the truth. III. Both Faces Are My Truth I know my smiles aren’t real. But I want to stay. I want to keep going, even if it means pretending. All this effort is for something that matters to me. Maybe caring this much is what killed me. She kept both. Not because she could no longer tell the difference between them, but because she finally understood that the lie had never been completely separate from the truth. The lie was born from fear. From loneliness. From the need to remain close to the people she loved. But perhaps it was born from caring, too, from not wanting to disappear from the lives of the people who mattered to her. The mask had hidden her wounds, but at the same time, it had helped her stay. And perhaps acceptance was not about tearing the mask away and leaving it behind. Perhaps it was about accepting both faces. The lie. The truth. The brokenness. The smile. All of them belonged to the same person.

Chain

TEZOS

Network

Tezos

Contract

KT1QEdc7Pf3QtMH3hCNwiZmQjRFBcneffaPi

Token ID

6