Unmasking the Jester

THE JESTER'S MIRROR

The king awaits patiently. It has been 10 minutes since he summoned his favorite court jester. The king is not in a very good mood today, but he knows: his favorite court jester would make all the difference. His court jester, the one whom will always make him laugh, always care free, always so pure and innocent.

The horn blows and the door opens wide. A lone jester walks in, dressed in gold with green and purple coloured costume. He hops and he leaps; he jumps and he dives. The king laughes uncontrolably. After being satisfied, the king dismisses his jester.

The jester walks up the long flight of stairs, up to the highest room in the tower. He locks the door behind him and sits in front of the dressing table. Then slowly, as if all the energy has been drained from his body, he lost the liveliness and jolliness, faltering more and more as he stares into the mirror. Then, he carefully removes his mask. As the hat slids of his head, the neatly tied hair beneath the hat rolls down like the wave and rests silently on his shoulders. His face expression, nothing similar of that of the happy mask - is a tired, sad and painful one.

For many years, no one has suspected the jester was a lady. She places her mask on the dressing table. Her eyes began to overflow with sadness and soon, teardrops; like pearls, came running down her cheeks. Her tears smudges the powder on her face, as if only her tears were pure enough to wipe away the false expression on her face. Every night, the lady, not able to find love and hapiness in her life, falls asleep on her dressing table, face soaked full of unhappy tears. It was only until the next morning where she wakes up and face the painful reality and cleans her face, wiping away the tear marks left form the night before. Every evening, she would again, powder her face to hide her emotion. Jesters, they do not show emotions - they cannot show emotion, not even when they are alone. She would then puts on her happy mask, awaiting for the king to summond her once again.

The only witness to her lonliness and sadness, is her mirror. The mirror sees her unmasking every night, her tears, her cries. It sees her putting on the mask every evening, hiding her true feelings and expression behind the cold and unforgiving mask. The mirror is the only one, whom sees the life of the jester, beneath the mask.

This is the story, of the unmasking of the jester; the jester behind the mask. I am, but one fortunate soul, able to witness the secret of true beauty of the jester behind the mask. Although I am trapped within the mirror, but at least I know - I would always be here when the jester removes her mask.

Chungy
(dedicated to the jester herself.)