Tear Drop

• Shumirai Masvaure, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2018

Samantha was sitting on her bed, huddled up in her silk duvet covers. She had her phone in front of her, with her eyes locked to the screen. She had been looking at the screen for as long as she had unlocked her phone. Samantha was in her own world, but the world she was in was not a pleasant one. She looked at the screen with tears in her eyes, tears of anger and the feeling of betrayal. She tried hard to keep the tears from running down, because she knew that if one tear drop fell out it would be difficult to keep the rest in.
"I still don't understand why you haven't quit modelling class, I mean you're not even half attractive." Just the thought of someone posting a statement like that on social media broke Samantha. When she first read it, she felt a deep feeling of anger, she was at the point where she couldn't even express it. Samantha was hurt knowing that none of her friends stood up for her, most of them laughed about it as if it was a joke. It was as if all of her happiness and confidence was taken away from her in the blink of an eye.
She thought back to the day she started modelling class. She remembered the moment she walked into the class with her head faced down showing no confidence at all. Her hair was brushed in a way that covered her entire face. It was as if she was hiding something.
As she walked trying to look for a seat, she felt a soft, warm hand that lifted up her chin and pushed her hair back. With this warm, soft hand came a warm, soft voice that said "You are beautiful." These three words gave Samantha something she thought she could never have. The heartwarming words gave her the confidence to walk with her head held high and her hair brushed back to showcase her beauty.
While she was thinking about this day, she gently closed her eyes and let gravity do the job. Her tears ran down from her eyes onto her wrinkled cheeks that once faced an acid attack, and onto her neck that was still in the process of healing. She felt the cool breeze of the fan as it slowly dried her tears. She sighed with a smile on her face. "At times things will be difficult but with time everything will be okay." She told herself, "Just like my tears slowly dried up."