One morning, when Jessica Grosland crawled out of the depression in her mattress and dragged herself to the bathroom mirror, she discovered that she had grown a pair of horns eight inches long on either side of her forehead. She blinked a few times, then reached up and felt the curved bones, which were strangely red in color, as if they had been painted with Mars dust.
"Well, that's odd," she said. After considering various courses of action, she decided it would be best to wear a button-up shirt rather than her usual tee.
Getting used to having horns was not easy. That first day, she kept banging her head on car doors or her desk, underestimating how tall she was now. She was pleased to find that her horns did not get in the way of her favorite hat, and that they kept people from sitting beside her on the bus. Some people only glanced at her and did not notice the change, but for the most part, her horns inspired many amusing reactions ranging from caution to sheer terror. The only real downside was that she was not able to take her Econ 110 midterm exam because she was barred entrance into BYU's Testing Center for Dress Code violations.
Jessica liked her new horns very much, and did not look upon them as something alien that had happened to her, but as features that she had always possessed but that had only just recently become visible, tangible objects. She also liked the way they looked with her hair. The only thing that bothered her was when people who used to like her abandoned her because they thought she was now an ugly monster.
She understood that she would be seen as more dangerous now, but in her opinion people had always underestimated her anyway and they were wise to take precautions. Her family and her closest friends still liked her and were willing to work around the horn issue, so Jessica didn't mind very much.
And while it was true that some days she had to work very hard to restrain herself from losing control and goring whomever she was talking to, most of the time she was who she always had been. Only now, exactly who she was had become more apparent to the general populace. So although she wasn't as widely popular, and although the horns sometimes made her lie awake in bed uncomfortably for hours at night, she was a happy and pretty nice person.
She had horns. But she was still Jessica Grosland.
The End
"Well, that's odd," she said. After considering various courses of action, she decided it would be best to wear a button-up shirt rather than her usual tee.
Getting used to having horns was not easy. That first day, she kept banging her head on car doors or her desk, underestimating how tall she was now. She was pleased to find that her horns did not get in the way of her favorite hat, and that they kept people from sitting beside her on the bus. Some people only glanced at her and did not notice the change, but for the most part, her horns inspired many amusing reactions ranging from caution to sheer terror. The only real downside was that she was not able to take her Econ 110 midterm exam because she was barred entrance into BYU's Testing Center for Dress Code violations.
Jessica liked her new horns very much, and did not look upon them as something alien that had happened to her, but as features that she had always possessed but that had only just recently become visible, tangible objects. She also liked the way they looked with her hair. The only thing that bothered her was when people who used to like her abandoned her because they thought she was now an ugly monster.
She understood that she would be seen as more dangerous now, but in her opinion people had always underestimated her anyway and they were wise to take precautions. Her family and her closest friends still liked her and were willing to work around the horn issue, so Jessica didn't mind very much.
And while it was true that some days she had to work very hard to restrain herself from losing control and goring whomever she was talking to, most of the time she was who she always had been. Only now, exactly who she was had become more apparent to the general populace. So although she wasn't as widely popular, and although the horns sometimes made her lie awake in bed uncomfortably for hours at night, she was a happy and pretty nice person.
She had horns. But she was still Jessica Grosland.
The End
5 comments:
Can't wait to see them. I wonder how they'll go over with the primary children. I bet the classes you teach will be very quiet.
Love this; love you; love the horns.
That's very odd indeed. Ever read Imogene's Antlers?
:D My hero! Wouldn't it be cool if we all grew things... like random tails or horns or whatever... Anyways. Not everyone. I just mean the cool people. But whatever. I think you should grow horns. :) I'd still be your friend...
Lovely metaphor. Self-discovery is a fun process. At least you didn't grow one on your nose, for everyone else's sake, I suppose.
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