In the mirror

She finally sat down on her favourite part of the couch. She put her feet up after a gentle rub. It had been a long day on her feet. Tea in her favourite mug, remote in hand. Finally she had learnt to work the decoder. African Magic number moja. She hadn't heard a free day in the longest time. She had to work last Sunday. Hii kazi haina overtime. When you are called to work, you don't argue, you just get to it.

Finally she could drift off. It was Friday night. The kids were asleep, the security lights were on, the fire was lit. One more thing and this would be how she imagined heaven. She wasn't up by chance really. She had to wait for her boss-lady and her husband to return. But for these few hours when they were out to paint the city red with their high-flying friends, this was her domain. Finally. it was her castle.

The kids had been a nightmare to get to bed but the small brats are easier to get to sleep since they spend the day actively trying to make her miserable. Thank God for small mercies. After the tea was over and the credits had gone up on her program, she slipped her pink slippers on. They were once red you know.She checked on the kids one more time. Just to make sure they hadn't kicked their bedding to the floor kama kawaida. Then she walked up to the boss-lady's bedroom.

She knew exactly where her favourite outfit was. Boss lady never touched her laundry unless she was going to wear it. She knew where everything was, including her knickers. Funny that the outfit was both hers and her boss lady's favourite. She slipped it on carefully so as not to damage it. It held every curve perfectly. She slipped her feet out of her slippers and into ridiculously her heels. How did boss-lady ever walk in these shoes?. I guess the rich live by different rules. Something she had quickly come to learn. The clothes she was wearing were about 3 or 4 times the salary she begged for every month. She had seen the receipt.

Then tentatively she walked to the mirror. She hardly ever saw her face in the mirror. She didn't have one in her room next to the kitchen. She had her mother's bone structure, lovely and strong and strikingly beautiful. She had gotten her mother's hips too and her small waist. Her hands were rougher than they should be and her feet needed a lot of TLC."Soon", she told herself. "Soon, I shall live in a mansion and go to expensive salons". She held her thick hair up. Took one last look and turned away.

What do you see when you look in the mirror? Are you living someone else's life? Do you always wish you were driving your neighbour's car, had your friend's job, lived in your brother's house? Do you walk upstairs, change your clothes and look into the mirror and tell yourself "Soon I shall be someone else?"