a curse

I remember hearing more than a few times how beauty can be a curse but never completely understood why, that is, until last week.

Standing in line to get a food voucher last week was a 17 year old girl. With faded blue jeans and a t-shirt she made her way through the food line. She was thin with long wavy hair. I noticed her immediately because it’s pretty unusual to see someone her age in line. Usually it’s filled with middle-age men, and occasionally a woman, but not a young girl.

As she quietly approached the table her beauty struck me. Looking into her eyes I noticed a light that really was impossible to ignore. Her beauty is the kind that any teenage girl dreams of, just plain and simple beauty.

I smiled and for a second felt happy for her. Her shy smile was contagious, but my stomach began aching as it dawned on me. In most places her beauty would be a blessing, but for this girl it was a curse. Every predator would come after her and she probably stood defenseless against them. Such a sad thing, her beauty.