Dee got home from the luncheon at the Senior Center, went to the restroom, and then stood in front of the mirror nailed on the backside of the door. Oddly, she noticed the marble-sized bald spot she blamed on hormones that she combed over and sprayed no longer seemed bald. Her turkey neck, she called it, loose and wrinkly skin below her chin that danced around if her conversation became too animated, had become smooth as if she’d been to a physician for Botox injections. Her brows were even and dark, like they’d been before she had kids. Her son Junior alone had been the one who’d caused one brow to stick in a strained and worrisome position with his smoking and drinking.
While she didn’t mind age so much, Dee minded looking her age or older. Now, either the mirror had changed into one like the fun house at the county fair that made one look different and better, or Dee was hallucinating from having eaten too many sweets at the luncheon. She was impressed with her changes, touched them, and smiled. “That’s more like it,” she said.
Dee noticed a wispy being by the window who told her that she hoped being young again gave her peace and comfort one last time, and Dee crumpled to the floor with a smile that made her family feel like she didn’t suffer and made the mortician happy he didn’t have as much work to do.
About:
Niles Reddick is author of a novel, four short fiction collections, and two novellas. His work has appeared in over five hundred publications including The Saturday Evening Post, New Reader Magazine, Cheap Pop, Flash Fiction Magazine, Citron Review, Hong Kong Review, and Vestal Review. He is an eight-time Pushcart nominee and three-time Best Micro nominee. His website is: http://nilesreddick.com/.
