Ocean Alchemy

It's somewhere between troublesome and astonishing to realize how easy it is to slip on a mask you thought you'd abandoned. You left it lying on the ground, let it become covered in dust, let yourself think it may as well be allowed to fade, finally. It had always felt a bit stiff and awkward, and it was a relief to drop it.

But here you are, picking it back up again, wiping it a bit with a cloth, and placing it gingerly over your frown. Yes, it makes you sneeze. Yes, it's still uncomfortable. And yet somehow, somehow -- it feels like you never took it off.

It laughs: you're going to have to do more than just leave me on the floor of your closet if you want to be rid of me.

You have no verbal response, only the bitterest of smiles.