Mask of A Legend (29 page)

She stared at Stephen and continued. “This story of my life, of my career, was supposed to be about me being beautiful, and allowing the world to see my inner and outer beauty. But then it turned to a love story, and I can’t deal with that, only because my true image is nothing . . . but a lie.” The audience began talking and making noises. “Everyone looks up to me for my looks, and even my inner self, but my looks more. If I wasn’t beautiful, I wouldn’t be heard, my voice wouldn’t be heard. But since I became, or was beautiful, my voice was heard, only because you all wanted to hear it. And now, I have to tell you that it was all . . . a lie. . ..

“My beauty is not real – it’s fake – it’s a mask, and I wanted to believe that it was real so badly. So much. The reason why I don’t like to look at my reflection is because it’s a reflection of an ugly girl.” Stephen’s cellphone suddenly rang. He got up from his seat and walked out of the auditorium. Legend still cried out her speech of truth onstage. “I fell in love with a person who I thought loved outer beauty only, but then I discovered that he accepted inner beauty also. . . . But now I recently realized that he only cares for my beauty that’s fake. For that, it means that all of you only care, because I’m beautiful and I can’t live with that anymore. . . . I’m really ugly.”

The audience started laughing. “Sure you are,” an audience member laughed out. “What is this, an afterschool special? We get it!”

“No, no, I am. Listen, I thought that I could live with this, this mask, or whatever it is, but I can’t. I can’t allow myself to live a, a, a lie, and to preach words of beauty to all those girls who look up to me because I’m beautiful. I’m ugly, I’m an ugly girl,” she pleaded, but the audience only laughed harder. “I am!” The audience became silent once again. “I’m known as a goddess to many girls, and to many people of this nation, of this world. But I’m not a goddess, only because a goddess . . . is supposed to be beyond beautiful, which I am not. . . . I fell in love with this life, but I fell in love more with a man who I thought, for these past three days, cared for me more than my looks. But now I realize that this life and that man only cared for me for my beauty, which is a lie, a mask.”

Her tears showed sadness to the audience and the viewers as they watched on their TVs. She stood there in silence for a bit, and knew what she had to do. She was so afraid to show the world her real image, but she had to, and some force within her mind caused her to feel like that way. Call it her true self, inner spirit, perhaps even a godly force, but Legend reached a point where she went beyond the fear, and yearned to embrace the emotion that would come after she revealed her true self.

Very patiently and slowly she turned around to face the mirror, and allowed her reflection to be shown to all of the world. The audience and the TV cameras faced Legend’s reflection in the huge mirror, and allowed their minds to be confused toward the most beautiful girl in the world. The whole audience really couldn’t see that well, but the people in the front could, at least they tried to. They saw her acne, small lips, her stringy, blonde hair, and her ugliness that infected their emotions so much that they had to look away from it.

“My name is Legend Conaway, and this is who I am,” she cried. She ran to the back of the stage. She ran, with old and new tears, to her dressing room, grabbed her purse, and ran out of the back door to the stage. She ran for miles and miles, never stopping for rest, only looking in front of her, and finally found herself at a beach.

Meanwhile, as she ran to the beach, Stephen came back to his seat. Echoes of gossip surrounded the room and many eyes were faced to the side of the stage where Legend was last seen. “Dina, where’s Legend?” he asked.

She turned around, a smile on her face lifted, and replied, “Well, you missed quite a show, Stephen.” Dina then ran up toward the stage and ran up to the podium. She turned to the audience, their faces still showing misunderstanding, and announced, “Everyone, let me tell you that I knew about Legend’s looks for a while, and the reason why I didn’t say anything is because I didn’t want to hurt her.” As she explained, her mental mask back on in full throttle, Stephen ran past the audience and headed for the front door to the auditorium.

He walked outside and placed his feet on a red, vacant carpet.

“Legend, where are you?”

T
he empty beach. “Why can’t I see my beauty?” Legend lay on a beach and her flashback ended. She looked up at the sky, the sun showing itself even more. “Angelica, help me!” Legend stared at a single star in the distance, and felt a cold breeze rush against her mask.

“Hello, Legend,” a voice said. Legend turned around and saw Angelica in her view. “Well, it’s been a year.”

Legend picked up her mirror again from the sand, and walked up to Angelica. “Why can’t I see my reflection of beauty, but I can see it on magazine covers and photos?” Legend cried. Angelica sat down on the sand and smiled up to her.

Legend sat down also, while Angelica grabbed the mirror from her and stared into it. “Mirrors are your worst enemy,” Angelica said, seeing beauty in the mirror. “My mother always told me to never trust a two-dimensional thing such as a mirror. You see, I could see my beauty in the mirror, but in reality I’m ugly. With you, Legend, you can see your so-called ugliness in the mirror only. But in reality, you’re beautiful, only because of the mask I granted you. So, which one of us is the lucky one?”

“Was it supposed to be a lesson of some kind?”

“You see, Legend, a wish isn’t real, it’s only an illusion granted.”

“I know who you are. Stephen told me a story about you, I know you, I know your mission. And let me tell you something, it isn’t fair that you grant wishes of this nature, only to have the girl see her ugliness in the mirror,” Legend shouted.

“Legend, before I tell you anything, I have to ask you something. It’s the rules. Do you want your wish taken away?”

Legend gave out a laugh.

“Of course I do, I want it all taken away. I want everything gone that this wish allowed to happen!”

Angelica touched her face and began stroking it.

“You will only lose your mask, everything else will stay the same. Your fame, fortune, and everything else will stay, while your true image will show. Do you still want your mask to come off?”

Legend got up from the ground and looked at the star in the sky.

“Yes . . . yes . . . I want it taken away,” Legend said. “I’ll face the consequences, but just take it away!”

Angelica got up from the sand. “It’s not that easy, Legend. You have to mean it.”

Legend opened her eyes wide. “I do mean it. Listen, I’m crying, I’m confused about everything, I do mean it, I want it gone!”

Angelica touched her on her mouth, asking, “Legend, where do you think wishes come from? In order for a wish to be taken away, you have to say a word that allows your pleas to be heard. You see, a wish isn’t real when it’s granted, it’s just an illusion. But this word, when it is granted, is real.” Tears were beginning to form in Angelica’s eyes. “Legend, say that word!”

“What word? Listen, Angelica, I want this mask taken off. I mean, while I stood on this beach I prayed in my mind that–”

“That’s it!”

“You mean, ‘pray’?”

“Yes, ‘pray’, ‘so be it’, ‘I declare’, say it out loud to that star, and you will be released from this mask you wear,” Angelica said.

Legend looked up at the star, closed her eyes and understood that her new life would banish for good, once she said her prayer. “I’m scared, Angelica,” Legend cried. She turned away from the star once more and stared at the angel known to her as ‘Angelica’. “I’m so scared to have this mask taken from me. . . . I mean, I was made fun of with my real image, and I was hurt so bad because of it, and other things. I’m just so afraid of going back to that way of living again, and having to put up with the pain of hearing those names, those evil names called to me, instead of people saying my real name,” Angelica cried herself.

Legend continued. “People treat me with respect and honor with this mask of beauty, and I love it. I feel like a human, a goddess when I’m wearing it . . . but it’s not me. This is not my real image, and I’m so saddened to realize it.” Angelica’s tears started to fall. “I fell in love with the world, as they fell in love with me. . . . But . . . most of all, I fell in love with Stephen, who treated me with honor, and respect, and everything that I’ve ever dreamt about a man treating me. . . . And once I take this mask off, all of that will be gone!”

Angelica still stood silent. She wanted Legend to speak only, and say what she felt while wearing this mask of beauty. Legend cried, “All of that will be gone, just because my real image shows ugliness, and that’s what I fear. . . . But I know inside that this mask isn’t me, and I have to honor my real image, even if it is ugly, and even if people turn away from it, and call it evil names. . . .” She then rested, and turned to the star, which was Heaven. “I’m ready.” She closed her eyes, cried more and shined her fake image to the star, which was and is her creator of this mask.

Legend said to the star, “I pray . . . that . . . my mask . . . of beauty will . . . be taken away.” Angelica’s new tears broke from her eyes and fell past her old tears, dropping to the sand. “But I want it taken away in an hour, so I could enjoy my last glimpse of it.”

Angelica moved up to her and gave her a hug.

“Legend . . . for many years, I have granted beauty to girls, only because I lived with the burden, with the sadness of having my own wish taken away, and losing my love to it,” Angelica cried, still hugging Legend. “This mission of mine has finally ended . . . because of you. Now I could finally be with my love in Heaven, and you could be with yours on earth.”

Legend pulled away from her hug. “What do you mean?”

“Stephen of course, he’s your fate. Didn’t you know that?”

“Listen, he only accepts me for my beauty, and that’s it,” Legend said.

Angelica slowly walked away from her, turned to face her once again and said, “Legend, a long time ago, I showed my beauty to my love. . . . And then I took it off, and revealed my true self to him, my true image of ugliness. . . . It was a story that you heard already, but no one knows the ending to it.”

“What happened?”

“Well, they killed me because they thought I was a witch,” Angelica said.

“Well, what happened with you and the prince? Did he love you anyway, after you showed your ugliness?”

“Whatever happens with you and Stephen, that’s what happened with me and my dear prince before I died. I can’t tell you what happened, but all I can say is I ran away from the castle, once they threatened to crucify me for my actions. I ran, after my prince saw my true image, and made the biggest mistake of my life. I prayed that my wish would be real again. And guess what? My prayer was heard by that same star,” Angelica said with tears falling from her eyes. “They killed me after I made that prayer, and so I had to live with ugliness, and have my beauty stored away in my reflection as I stared at mirrors. I was forced to make a mission that I would find a girl to undo my mistake, and actually follow through with only praying for her mask of beauty to be vanished. You were supposed to be the last, and if you didn’t decide to take your wish away, then my punishment for that was to live for eternity as a ghost on this earth.”

“But I found you with the inner beauty of an angel, the inner beauty that I had. My warning to you, Legend, is never make a prayer of beauty, and to have this wish undone, because after you die, you will be forced to live a mission that I had to do.” Angelica kissed Legend on the cheek. “Every girl whom I granted this mask of beauty to never wanted to take back the wish. And once they died, with their mask still on, their souls also died with them. They were forced to live eternity with their masks, but live with them as apparitions that roam the earth. And they will never get to see what Heaven is like, only because their masks aren’t accepted there.”

“What happened with you and the prince?”

“Legend, you had the time of your life this past year. Your inner beauty was shown to the world – it shined through the mask you wore. Your true character was shown to billions, and your true fate was found. I can’t tell you what happened with me and my prince, but you’re going to find out in a few moments,” Angelica replied. She pointed her index finger over Legend’s neck.

“What do you mean?” Legend asked. She followed Angelica’s finger and turned around to see what it was. There she saw in her view a figure running toward her and screaming out her name. “My God, it’s Stephen.” She turned back around to face Angelica. “Who’s going to take your place now, as the granter of beauty? And does Stephen love me for me?”

“You will see the granter of beauty, once true happiness comes to you. And also you will see if Stephen truly loves you.” Suddenly Angelica disappeared into thin air. The sand blew around and Legend tried to look for Angelica.

Swiftly, Stephen ran up to Legend and said, “Legend, what happened? I heard that you pulled some prank with that big mirror at the awards ceremony!”

“Prank? It wasn’t a prank,” she said. She began to walk away from him. She wiped her old tears away, and made her face ready for new ones.

“It had to be. Dina came up onstage and started to say that she knew you were ugly or something, and then everyone began to get mad at her. I ran outside to see where you were, and then when I came back in the audience was yelling at Dina and saying that she was just jealous of you, and that she was pushing the prank too far. Legend, everyone is looking for you, they’re worried sick,” Stephen said. Legend stopped in her tracks and turned around.

“Stephen, Dina was telling the truth, I am ugly. I am ugly. I am ugly, can’t you get that through your head? It’s over, Stephen, goodbye.”

“Wait a second, what’s over? Legend, I don’t understand what’s happening. Everyone says that the trick mirror showed an ugly girl when you stared in it. They say that you were trying to set an example, some sort of meaning that a beautiful girl could be ugly. But the thing is, it was just an example, and now you’re saying ‘goodbye’?” he shouted. His eyes developed a shield of tears, he didn’t know why she was saying ‘goodbye’, or even why she was standing on a beach, with sadness to her expression.

“Yes. . . . Listen, Stephen, I love you too much, and that’s why I have to go!” All she could do was stare at his eyes, and watch as they developed more tears within them. Those eyes, she loved so much when they stared at hers with warm love, an innocent love that she once thought was fate. “I don’t belong in this lifestyle, I’m not allowed here!” She saw bafflement in his tear-filled eyes. “I know it’s confusing, and that’s why I’m going now. I want you to remember me like this, please, and not as an ugly girl.”

“Ugly girl? Legend, I don’t understand what the hell is going on here. I mean, you speak of ugliness, but you’re beautiful. Everyone is confused at why you pulled that stunt and used that trick mirror. But they still love you, as I love you. Legend, you do belong here, you are allowed,” Stephen pleaded. Clouds in the sky formed and the sound of thunder was heard. Legend knew her creator, her granter was appearing, and ready to banish her mask from sight.

“I have to go now. Please, Stephen, I have to leave. I don’t want you seeing my real face, I want you to remember me like this!” She began to run away from him with fury in her speed, and he still stood there, determined to help her.

“Legend!” he shouted. He saw her running further away, and decided to run after her.

As she ran, the clouds formed more, and the darkness settled in the day. The raindrops started to fall, and at the same time, one of them hit Legend’s face. She stopped and felt the raindrop on her face, and noticed a bump. It was her acne, her true image beginning to show. The rain was tearing her mask off.

She began to run more, faster and faster. She ran without a cause in her mind. She didn’t know why she was running. But then she realized that she really didn’t want him to see her true image. Even after she went through the heartache of showing the world her true image in the mirror, she still didn’t want her love to see it. The rain fell more, and the mask was peeling off, showing her true ugliness that shined once again. As soon as her beauty banished, and her real image took form, Stephen caught up to her and grabbed her by the hand.

She looked down, her tears falling with the rain, and immediately covered her face with her gentle hands. “Please, Stephen, leave me alone!” Legend’s hands still covered her face. Suddenly, as they both stood there, fans, media, and cameramen showed up and were running toward them. She could hear their screams, their voices chanting her name only. Suddenly, she heard Stephen’s voice in her mind, as her memory came back to her of the words he spoke that night.

The night when they confessed their love for each other, and her memory said, “I like your inner beauty more.” She kept on hearing those words that Stephen spoke to her that night, and for that, she was ready to show him her true image, and face the consequences of this awesome yet magical sight.

Before the media, cameramen and fans could reach them, Stephen said, “There’s nothing to be afraid of. . . .” He slowly took her hands away, and saw the image that she possessed. He saw her acne and her ugliness, and widened his eyes with fear and pain, as if he was staring at a stranger. “Miss Conaway? You’re that girl back at the hotel that I met last November! The model search.” He was shocked and Legend finally stared at his eyes with her true face.

She saw his eyes showing everything that she hoped wouldn’t be displayed on his face. So she said, “You see, Stephen, this is what I was talking about.” She then waited, without saying anything else, and ran away from him. The media ran after her, as Stephen still stood with confusion.