LIfe Goes On

by Laurada Byers

In the Ordinary World, she was the partner in a pair of Russian nesting dolls. The dolls were to grow old together; instead, one was suddenly smashed. The remaining doll looked no different but everything had changed. Life went on.

 She was still capable and strong…until she realized that her paint was wearing off. She began to look old and worn. She was prematurely aging and wondered why. She suddenly felt herself being wrapped in layers of paper and soon found herself in the doll hospital cluttered amongst a circus of broken dolls. The paper had been cherishing and warm; the hospital was not. She was confused and frightened, as she thought “Couldn’t I just be repainted?!” The painters in the hospital tried to restore her, but the paint no longer stuck. Just as she became unrecognizable, her shell fell away. As she admired her new shell, she thought, “I may be dwindling, but I am still myself!” Life went on.

She refused to believe that she was broken. This time around, her paint stayed vibrant, but she lost herself. She was so small that no one could hear her voice; she feared she would be forgotten.
Life goes on.