Fear of Soceity's Standards

   Luscious, the only word suitable to describe her with her long, shiny chestnut locks and crystal blue shining eyes and delicate frame poised with regal grace. How beautiful she was as she glided down the halls acknowledging everyone with a large welcoming smile. Her face glowed with an ethereal happiness, a light that none could smother. I loved her from the first moment I set eyes upon her, there was nothing I could do to stop the flutter of my heart and the rise of girlish happiness. I knew the love to be forbidden but there was nothing I could do to squelch the feelings that grew more and more poignant each day.
    I found myself watching her at her locker, how happy she made everyone around her, she radiated warmth and comfort and I longed to reach out and touch her soft freckled cheeks but that was never to be. Time ticked by and just when I was ready to tell her how I felt I had a boyfriend to fit in with society’s standards. Never truly happy with my life I thought of her often but then I graduated and moved away, married my high school boyfriend, bought a nice house in the country and had a beautiful daughter. My darling daughter, the only good thing I’ve ever accomplished in this world. I look at her and see the potential in her sapphire eyes,  the color that reminds me every day of the girl I once loved. How I wish I could go back to that first day I saw her, profess my undying love and kiss her right there in front of everyone, never caring what others thought of me and my forbidden love for that beautiful girl I will never see again but in my dreams.  

    It is my fear and weakness that has damned me to this existence. As a child I feared my parents and the expectations society imposed, I believed every word of what was supposedly right and wrong. Had I but not listened I might love more today, I might be truly happy. All the what ifs and the could have beens haunt my every waking moment. Society's standards are wrong, is it fair to say that to love another is wrong just because of their sex? Why should it matter, love is love and everyone deserves to be happy one way or the other. So here I shall take a stand against society and teach my daughter to be happy with whomever she chooses. Here I shall fight against my past and take a stand for my future and the future of my darling daughter who's eyes sparkle the same color as the girl I once loved.

Reviews

[Norma J. Jessee]

I agree, we live in a society that tends to try and make us conform to it's standards and ethics. If we fail to conform then we're no longer a part of society , we are viewed as outcasts. And if we conform, then we are often unhappy because we have conformed to ideas and views that are not our own and may be completely oposite of what we are as a human being. So we have to make a choice. I for my part choose to be happy. I will not conform, I will be me.

This was an excellent article, and to me it speaks of freedom. The freedom to be ourselves.
I wrote an article that deals with very similar problems. It's titled Relationships.

Thank you for sharing.

Jean

[Lab Rat 1984]

I strongly agree with your view in this piece! Sadly, it is so true about society now a days.

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I agree with invs, it's a hard story for me to relate to, but I think it's a strong piece. I do think the sentence structure throughout the work could be polished up. I got the feeling every now and then that there should be more within certain sentences that aren't there, like they're incomplete. And the what ifs and could have beens should be in some sort of quotations or hyphenated. Otherwise, it's a good piece, and once polished up will be terrific. Keep it up!

[bob, small b. aka invs]

i can't say that i relate to the story, but it does help me to understand the feelings of someone who might be forced to go through this sort of situation. very well written.

[Silent Kim aka mizmetap..]

Excellent writing. Very clear and easy to read. Your feelings come through your words nicely.

Good write. And welcome to the Cafe.

[Daniel]

I really enjoyed this. Great read. And great description.

The one thing I did not like, however, was that the first two paragraphs were so deep and perfectly arranged, but when I started reading the third, it sounded, to me, a bit sloppy and had an "i want to get this done with" feel to it.

Sorry to be so negative because I really did enjoy this. Great job. :)

[Selentic]

Fix those few grammar bugs and this could be very eloquent.

[vindictivesunshine]

its an interesting story.....the first paragraph is full of intrigue and mystery. good stuff
thanks for the review

[An Ordinary Woman]

Her face glowed with an ethereal happiness, a light that none could smother. ... Beautiful!
You have a wonderful and unique style, very fresh, I enjoyed this very much!

And thank you for the wonderful review!
Tamara xx