Let me tell you a story...

This is a story of two girls. 

One girl started high school, embarking on an adventure, the next big step of her journey through life. With this step comes many things - excitement, fear, insecurity, worry. Things that we all experience during this time. 

Maybe the other girl just started too, I don't know. Maybe she is scared, insecure, worried about her appearance, maybe she is just overwhelmed by it all.

So this second girl points out to the first girl that she has a monobrow. 

A simple, throwaway comment, not even really malicious... Just a pointed comment, probably to distract attention from herself, possibly a reassurance to herself that other people have faults too. 

The she goes on her merry way and doesn't think about the first girl at all. It's swept past in her whirlwind of life and she doesn't care enough to think beyond speaking. 

That afternoon the first girl goes home and gets hold of her mum's razor and shaves her eyebrows off. Completely, utterly, just a wisp of pale white, bare skin to show they even existed at all.

And when her mum discovers this, well all she can do is stand, speechless, and wonder why her beautiful girl didn't come to her for help. Ask her what she should do.

So her mum hugs her close and tells her it was silly, but time will fix her troubles, and in the meantime they invented eyebrow pencil for a reason. Asks if next time her girl will come to her, promises she will always be here to listen.

Then she sits quietly in her room and wonders if the girl who pointed this out knows what she's done. If she will be the leader of the pack that will descend upon her daughter if they discover the truth behind the make up. 

She has a message for this girl: Your words have consequences far beyond your lips. Be kind. Be understanding. Be supportive. I hope that no one ever makes you feel as insecure as you made my girl feel. Those few words, flitting past in seconds, will be there on my girls face for the world to see for many days to come. You were hurtful, whether deliberately or not, and a tiny part of me hopes you aren't sleeping soundly tonight.

So now this first girl can go back to school with her pencilled in armour against the whisperers... And her mum can only hope she's given her girl enough strength to hold her head up and learn from her mistakes. Hope she has instilled a knowledge that her girl is fine, just as she is. Love bomb her every day and give her strength. 

The end.