Inside (Outside)

I look in the mirror and see beauty (pain). My face feels (like it's on fire) rejuvenated and I see the beauty (painful, God, it's painful). Who sees the beauty (pain) anyway? Not the mirror, not the friends, not the family, but me. Beauty is worth all the struggle (pain).

I am fine (battered, but who cares), better than ever, in fact (the bruises are fading). Oh, you want to see my arm? I'm not lying. No bruises, see? (Don't touch my arm, please, it still hurts...)

Him? Oh. I'm over him (is he doing alright?). He was temporary (he was always forever to me). I'm so glad we're not together anymore (why weren't we forevermore?).

I'm so excited for the next step in my life. I cannot wait to move on (I'm not ready I'm not ready I'm not ready). I've been wanting to leave the house forever, haven't you? (My body may leave the house but forever will my soul wander around the halls.)

But the truth, the truth is there. The inside is true (ugly, they think truth is so ugly). People don't like that (they turn their backs on ugly things) and that makes the outside more favorable. So, let's stay in the outside. The outside is far more appealing, isn't it? Let us go back, and see only the things we are allowed to hear instead of things (inside).

I look in the mirror and see beauty. My face feels rejuvenated and I see the beauty. Who sees the beauty anyway? Not the mirror, not the friends, not the family, but me. Beauty is worth all the struggle.

I am fine, better than ever, in fact. Oh, you want to see my arm? I'm not lying. No bruises, see?

Him? Oh. I'm over him. He was temporary. I'm so glad we're not together anymore.

I'm so excited for the next step in my life. I cannot wait to move on. I've been wanting to leave the house forever, haven't you?

Outside (inside) are the things that make us. We are both things. We are outside (inside). We are our thoughts and our words. We are not one over the other, we are two parts. One is the part commonly known, and one is suppressed. We will forever remain free (but only the parts we show outside). We speak silently the truth. We speak loudly the lies. We will forever be both, (inside) outside.

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Additional Context

Inside (Outside) is an experimental work. The brackets in the story represent the inner thoughts and spoken words. Words inside the brackets are inner thoughts that are concealed and never spoken aloud. Words outside the bracket are spoken words. The contrast between them draws an unfortunate truth about the reality of our inner and outer personas.