She  d r a g s her thin, limp body out of bed each morning.

Crying, every sunrise and every sunset until there are no more tears left.

No one truly knows her pain.

Putting on layers upon layers of makeup, she covers up her frown and paints a happy, gleeful smile on her face.

Hiding behind her perfect and smiling outer layer while on the inside she’s dying.

Somedays she catches glimpses of others with masks on too.

Fearing that if she takes off her mask that no one will love her.

She thinks late at night about jumping,

Jumping off the stage to end her glorious performance.

But one cool spring day another actor comes onto the stage.

He sweeps her off her feet,

An unexpected improvise in the play.

For once she feels as if she doesn’t have a need for her mask anymore.

For once what is under the mask is greater than the mask itself,

For once, she’s truly happy.