copyright – Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
FIXED
“It’s alright,” momma said. “We’ll have you fixed, sweetie.”
They excised parts of me as if they were tumors… upgraded me as if I were a machine.
They added some; they removed some.
But somehow managed to leave behind the cancer of self-doubt.
I learned to live with the stranger in the mirror.
Because no one ever made fun of her face.
Twenty-five years later, I teach my daughter something that I wish my momma had taught me instead.
“You’re beautiful, sweetie. Just the way you are… If someone tells you otherwise, you punch them right in the nose job.”
© 2013 K.Z. Morano
The Eclectic Eccentric 
Haha! Very well done!
thank you 🙂
Loved this! Really good, and the addition of just that one word on the end… that did it for me. Well done.
thanks. 🙂 glad you liked it.
Dear KZ,
Pow! Right in the nose job. You made me laugh out loud. One of your best. A great message that ends with a punch.
Shalom,
Rochelle
oh the number of times i wish i could’ve done that to a mean girl/guy. lol thanks so much 🙂
Dear Kz,
This was adorable. Very well conceived and executed. Loved…no really…loved your last line.
Aloha,
Doug
Very interesting take on the image. I love how you take us from the past to the present with a bang. Nice work.
Bam! Great ending. I really the idea of nip and tucking the outside, but never getting to the inner problem, the “cancer of doubt” as you put it so beautifully.
“The cancer of self-doubt” and “the nose job” were perfect! I’m so glad her daughter would know that what’s inside it the more important, (although getting contacts made a big difference to me, at least for a time!) 🙂
janet
Beautifully crafted.
I always enjoy your takes. This one is simply beautiful.
Cracking last line. Good stuff.
I enjoyed the layers of meaning in this, well done. 🙂
I loved the layered meaning of the “cancer of self-doubt” and the “nose job”. Perfect ending. I love where you went from the prompt.
Punch em in the nose JOB…hilarious!
Such an eloquant way of getting a message across, loved your last line 🙂
great advice KZ
I guess she applied some of what she had learned
I can see I’m in agreement with several others, the “cancer of doubt” was a great description, and I couldn’t help but smile at the ending.
Terrific ending with the double twist. Great story.
Not a word wasted here, darling. Your phrasing is always precise; your metaphors wonderful.
Just wonderful KZ! The nose JOB is an awesome tweek, so worth the extra word! Super job this week.
What a great read. Loved it!
Fabulous last line! And a great message 🙂
I love the direction you took this. Well done!
Indeed! We are our own harshest critics, aren’t we?
That “cancer of doubt” was a great description. ! Well done!
Amen! Great story, kz and wonderful take on the prompt.
Hi KZ,
You and Mr. Rogers are really on the same page, the one about unconditional love and accepting someone for just who he or she is. And that final line packs a punch, literally and figuratively. Oh, and I meant to tell you I read your “about KZ” bio and thought it was one of the best ones ever. Ron
thanks Ron! 🙂
A great message and then that last word – made me laugh out loud!
Exactly.. that last word made the story.
Very well told. I wonder about that, the cancer of self-doubt? What can it be like, to change the face you were born with because it did not measure up to Western Standards of Beauty? I don’t mean actual disfigurement, but just a large aquiline nose, instead of the pert little turned up things that so many end up with. I come from LA, where everyone different gets a nose job, I’m Jewish, but lucked out with a perfect nose by accident of birth. Turns out my mother’s nose must have been a recessive quality, for no one got it, but what if we had, would we have begged for surgery?
I agree!!!
Scott
Mine: http://kindredspirit23.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/friday-fictioneers-ff-102513-personal-music-pg13/
Brilliantly written!
And scratch a few crow’s feet under their eyes while your at it! Thanks for the chuckle. Well done, kz.
Neat tale, cleverly told.
i don’t think i can tell it better that you did. 🙂
We all are works of art! I loved that line, especially the last word. Excellent, kz!
So true! And great last line. But I still want a nose job!
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