You’re Perfect Just the Way You Are!

Submitted into Contest #101 in response to: Write a story that involves a reflection in a mirror.... view prompt

12 comments

Adventure Creative Nonfiction Funny

I-is t-that me? Naomi questioned herself. “No, it can’t possibly be. Not in this life at least.” She quietly muttered to herself. This is usually how her personality is like. Always judging, hurting, doubting, and questioning her true self. Naomi usually hunks that she has lost all empathy for my her own self. What kind is person can learn to love, if he does not love himself?


People who are often depressed, anxious etc are often causing deep trouble for their inner selves without realising it. Think of it as a habit- for example, you have to brush your teeth with toothpaste, and a toothbrush ever single morning and night. If not, you are depriving yourself of teeth hygiene. Most people who are affected by such illnesses initially pinpoint that 99% of the harm that is caused on themselves is because of the environment or the world that revolves around them.


“Of course it is, Naomi. Gosh, you are so difficult to please, aren’t you?!” Shelly murmured under her breath. Her fists were clenched tightly, but then slowly let loose. Her feet were making unusual and odd patterns or shapes on the white tiles, which is often a gesture of being annoyed or impatient in most cases.


“Huh, guess I am, gee…” Naomi nervously laughed.

She strutted about in a weirdly manner, but she tried to convince herself that she is like a model in one of those fancy catwalks. “A model, God, I wish.” She quietly pitied herself in her mind while gaping up and down on her body. How could she ever make it to the fashion world, while being so chubby and fat? She clearly understands that these days you don’t have to have exactly eight pack of abs to show up; you can be petite, tall, etc. But, deep down she knows that in reality, people would only accept you if you’re perky, pretty, smart, handsome, slim, beautiful, and wealthy. None of the “diverse culture” that hosts speak about in talk shows really exist. They only happen to be real in fantasy.


Naomi wore a not too shabby evening gown and some borrowed high heels. High heels were definitely not her walk in the park, but they seemed to be okay for a girl like her. The adjustable stripes were coloured green, which obviously didn’t match up or coordinate with the rest of the golden colour. The peel off aqua gem stickers were sticking out, and some have already been destroyed. RIP.


Now, she thought to herself.

“Hm, what’s missing from this? Aha, I know… makeup!” The only part of her “fabulous yet horrendous” makeover that Naomi didn’t really dislike in fact. She was quite the expert in this particular field of beauty, so she had her skills to show off. The only thing that was misleading was that she only wore her makeup to herself up until now. Naomi suffered from social anxiety, which made it difficult for her to step outside her home. Not only that, she hated large crowds and gatherings. Now I can see why her mother sent her rage emails about not attending her relatives’ funerals for the past couple of months. Ahem.


Naomi sat down on a leather seat in front of her LED lighted mirror and became comfortable.

“I sure hope this will make a difference in my appearance. If not, that sure is unfortunate and horrible. All my life savings were spent to purchase Sephora products. Well, go big or go home!” Naomi humphed with the slightest enthusiasm. Her gut ensured that it wasn’t going to go well.


“Now, let’s start with the foundation. A little bit on my forehead, nose, right and left cheek, lastly the chin…” 

Namoi proceeded to smooth out the cream on her face, and made sure to cover all of the parts on her face to achieve a clean, and natural look.

“Now, time for the concealer. The bronze one is my favourite, because it helps to get a nice dark shadow on the nose and cheekbones.”

She proceeded to do so.

“Looks pretty good, so far, I guess!” Naomi exclaimed.

“Time for the eyeshadow. I think that a dark brown is perfect for my eyelids. It’ll help to intensify the deep colour of my skin tone.”

She rubbed a dark brown colour on her eyelids with a soft sponge like brush with a short handle.

“Great!” Naomi said with a subtle smile.

“The last part. Lipstick…”

Naomi applied a deep red lipstick with iridescent glitter and sequences to finish off the entire look.

“Woah, is this me? I look like a…”

Naomi pushed her chair back aggressively, forgetting that there was a bucket of blue paint from her previous painting session the day before. Her clumsy mind had betrayed her.

“Aw, shucks! That stupid paint c-“ Naomi shouted.

The chair tripped over, spilling the blue paint all over the ends of her dress. Her head hit the wall pretty hard, and she fell unconscious immediately. She tried calling Shelly, but it was already too late. 

“Naomi, Naomi! What’s all the commotion about?!” Shelly shouted as she speed walked to the lounge.

“Oh my-“ Shelly exclaimed.

“Naomi, my word, what happened to you!!” Shelly gazed at her younger sister with concern and fear. “Let me call the ambulance right away” As soon as Shelly was about to run to the telephone, someone grabbed her leg.

“Don’t go… I’m fine… Stay here…” Naomi said with a quiet voice. She was trying to recover and get up by herself.

“Naomi, you’re not fine! Please-“ Shelly spoke.

“Oh, shut up, Shell. I know that you don’t really care about me. All you want is money to survive, because I’m the one who’s working 12 hours a day to support your lazy self. Just calm down.” Naomi said sternly.

“Naomi, how could you say that-“ Shelly said.

“Shh!” Naomi interrupted her abruptly.


Naomi got up, while swaying her sister’s arms away with all her strength. She quickly realised that her dress was spoiled, and all the decorations on her high heels had disappeared. But, there was something wrong with Naomi.

She removed her high heels and threw, well yeeted them off to the kitchen. She wiped her makeup off using some baby wipes and put on sweatpants, and a huge T-shirt. She removed her hairstyle, that took hours of dedication to style. Naomi styled her hair into a huge messy bun and ran out the door with Nike Air Force shoes. Just before completely running out to the party, she shouted to her sister who was watching all this in horror:


“You’re perfect just the way you are!”















July 09, 2021 16:30

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12 comments

17:40 Jul 13, 2021

Wonderful story!! This prompt goes really well with how you told the story. Amazing job, can't wait to read more of your stories!

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Pahani Wijeratne
19:07 Jul 13, 2021

Hii! Aw, thank you for such a thoughtful and genuine comment! I’m really glad that you like how the story came out :) I really appreciate it; and thanks so much for checking out my stories! I would love to check out your stories as well 😊

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19:08 Jul 13, 2021

thank you! I have some of my favorite stories of mine in my bio if you'd like to read those. :)

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Eve Y
13:59 Jul 15, 2021

I love how the prompt is so neatly embedded into the story! Your descriptions of the character, Naomi, are so vivid, which I really appreciate as a reader. Now, I could be wrong, but I think there might have been instances when you switched the tenses you were writing your story in, such as this sentence "This is usually how her personality is like. ". Given that you were using past tense throughout most of the story, I think it might have been smoother if you had said, "That was usually how her personality was like." or "Usually, that was w...

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Pahani Wijeratne
15:05 Jul 15, 2021

Hiii! Aww, gee, thank you so so much for this sweet, genuine and thoughtful comment! 😊 I really appreciate your feedback :) Thank you for pointing that out, yes, I’ve noticed that in some parts of the story I had switched the tenses 😅 Apologies for that! Thank you for mentioning my mistakes, not a lot of readers who comment on my stories point that out! Thanks so much for your kind words, I would really love to check out your stories as well! ✨🌸 I hope you have a really nice day ahead. Enjoy writing, and God bless you ⭐️

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Eve Y
15:10 Jul 15, 2021

I'm glad you found the feedback helpful! Thank you so much for offering to check out my stories as well, that's what the writing community is for. ;) I hope you have a wonderful day!

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Pahani Wijeratne
16:52 Jul 15, 2021

Of course, my pleasure! 😊 I wholeheartedly agree with you, this writing community is truly amazing. I just want to thank you again for taking the time to read my story ⚡️💫 I hope you have a fantabulous day 🌟

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Johana Htwe
09:09 Jul 13, 2021

This is a good story which goes well with the prompt. But, what is not clear for me is that you used "I" after you mentioned "Naomi". Is that first person POV ? What I know so far is that you used third person POV throughout the story except in this part "I quietly muttered to myself. This is usually how my personality is like. Always judging, hurting, doubting, and questioning my true self. I think that I have lost all empathy for my own self. What kind is person can learn to love, if he does not love himself?"

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Pahani Wijeratne
17:15 Jul 13, 2021

Greetings:) Ohhh, yeah, I see where the confusion lies. Apologies for that! I think I mixed up the third person and first person 😅 I didn’t mean to, guess my clumsy self did 😂 Anyways, I edited the story! Thank you so much for pointing that out. I wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for you. Thanks so much for reading my story as well, it means the world ✨ I hope you have a great day 🌸 😊

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Johana Htwe
21:26 Jul 13, 2021

The story is better and clear now. You did well. Have a nice day too😊😊

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Pahani Wijeratne
07:20 Jul 14, 2021

Aw, thank you for your kindness and gratitude!! Same to you as well ☺️⭐️

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Pahani Wijeratne
16:41 Jul 09, 2021

What’s up, guys! Oof, this story was a tough journey. I managed to submit it just a few hours before the deadline 😅😂. Risky, hm? Hehe, jokes aside, this story is actually a new favourite of mine. I took a shot at writing some comedy and I think that it turned out to be pretty okay! I hope you give some feedback on your take on this story:) I will definitely be open to any suggestions, queries or questions 😁. It was really fun to write this one though; true beauty is all that matters, peeps! Anyways, I hope you all take care and stay safe. I...

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