She gazed into the mirror,
tears streaming down her face
Her cheeks were red
where the tears had burned her skin
like holy water on an open wound.
Streaks of thick black eyeliner stained her face
but she didn’t care.
She let the telephone drop from her hands
and onto her cold, black pillow
and there it lay for an eternity.
She had planned to continue her reading tonight
but instead she stared down at the ring
and cried herself to sleep.
