As a child, she despised herself; her weight, her hair, her teeth
Above all, those behemothic blemishes on her oily, ruddy face
They were the sprinkles on top of her ever-lasting cake of self-hatred

She blamed all of her failures on those pimples
Those repulsive imperfections surrendering her to seclusion and vulnerability
Extricating herself from those shackles would result in her beauty and happiness – her acceptance…
But teenage Ally Strombert had tried it all:
The face washes, the creams, the masks, the vitamins, but to no avail

Until that one eerie, stormy night…
Home alone, the doorbell rang
She trudged to the door, her cumbersome, thick, red curls bouncing and trailing behind her
Only to find a stocky, azure creature, with its glowing, wide green eyes blinking rapidly
Then extended a coarse, gray, thick finger and curiously felt her frowning, bemused face
“Oh my gosh, I know. They’re gross,” she muttered, shifting her eyes away
It said nothing, assessing her perspicaciously
And with that, the creature vanished

Ally briefly swept her hands over her face, humiliated, feeling dense -
But the buttery softness of a baby’s skin is all she felt…
Her face was perfect, and now so was she

Giggling delightedly, she pranced, spun, twirled and leapt outside
She embraced every droplet of rain that happened to splash on her blemish-free forehead
At last she collapsed to the ground, beaming
Standing in her front yard’s soggy green grass, pure bliss is all she could feel – but only for a moment
This is when she happened to glance at the ground
And notice how abnormally broad her feet were