The day I made a face

It's not that I wanted to throw people off their feet but rather having a peculiar look would always warrant a glance or two. Reporting to the office days after doing acrobatics with my motorcycle (thanks to that stray dog and its purported owner — may you sleep soundly tonight), I found people suddenly taking interest in my scars. Across all sections common to my area, news spread like bullets from a machine gunner in trench warfare, sweeping all and across the no man's land. Yes, how unfortunate, but no, let me rephrase that – how fortunate I am for having a chance to make a face. Yes, I am making a face – a scary face at that. It makes one think of getting four-wheel-drive to avoid losing in a machine–animal collision. I did not mind the thousand-question stare but I do mind the side comments looking at negligence on my part for not taking caution. Many people happily assume that at the time of the accident, caution was not exercised — which I am happy to refute. I did not want to spend money on medicines that will cause me to squirm every time they are applied. I did not have the intention to look foolish enough to have a mark on my face. I did not dare risk losing a limb for trying some stunts. No, it was neither caution nor the lack of it; it was something far more complicated that may have started right at the grass roots of human settlement. One thing led to another, if the dog wasn't on the road, if that dog had a master, if the roads are well-lit, if and if and endless ifs. What if I did not make it out alive? I do not want to think. Maybe cremation, with my ashes in a container (you know the color and the shape) to be sprinkled later in the road where I died (I do not want to think of this yet, hello, it's ten in the evening. Don't you dare die yet) as ownership of the section that took my life without preparation. Work is different when there is something in you that makes you stand out – and the face, remember that – something that is not common to all. OMG! I've got bruises. So what? I'm bruised, I'm tired. I want to sleep. Anyone who will stop me is looking for a promotion from an idiot to a no-brainer.