A Case of Vanity

Old Wives Tales Series : I

 

 

 

She sat at her dressing table and characteristically turned with self conscious eyes to look at herself. She had to go pick up Maria at school. As was normal with her, she'll dab on a little make up when going out.

 

She brushed her face and there it was again. A lady's relations with the dressing decorum has many surprises but none more surprising than what she was experiencing the past few days. It started after she gave her consent for the fountain.

 

In association with the experience of reflection, she saw in her mind's eye, her husband in a fishing trawler sailing on some rough seas. Around the boat, there protruded the tell tale fin of a shark. She applied a little foundation to her cheeks.

 

The husband seemed to be in control, by and large. The sense of his sturdy hands on the wheel of the boat came to her like a close-up. His face had the usual sense of concern and a slight anxiety that looked out of the corner of his eyes.

 

Bill was a good man, she surmised, but the nature of a male and female relation imposed its own standards of conduct. He had always ridden the waves of issues in their lives but not without some effort always. It didn't come easy to him but he had always shown a strong earnestness to learn. She reached for the red lipstick.

 

What or who was the shark? She had no idea. She pursed her lips to even the lipstick, closed the cap on it, took one last look at the mirror and was off and to the school. The reflection stopped.