Masks

Chapter 3

I’ve been following Suave for quite some time now. I’m constantly thinking of how I’m going to remember the path back home. I’m sure that as long as I just keep moving forward once I reenter the woods, I’ll be fine. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. Although, even if I didn’t know where to find my way back home, I’m sure someone in Suave’s town could help me find my way back. “We’re almost there,” she says. Realizing that she’s getting closer, she picks up her pace just a bit, as do I in order to keep up with her. Finally, we come to the end of the woods. I can see a little village just ahead, and from what I can tell, the streets look empty. Smoke is rising from the chimneys of the little cottages, and I can just barely make out little flickers of orange lights through the windows. “There it is.” Suave holds out her hoof to stop me in my tracks before I can come any closer. “Before we go, I need you to promise me something.”

“Promise what?”

“That you won’t tell anypony that I was out in the woods, understand?”

“Well, why wouldn’t you be able to go into the woods?”

“Because it’s forbidden! None of us are allowed to enter that territory of the land. Everypony tells me it’s dangerous.”

“Well, then, why were you in there?”

“It’s the only place where I can be alone. Where I can just . . . listen to my music in peace without having to worry about anything else around me. Please, will you promise me?”

“Yeah, I-I promise.” Suave guides me out of the woods and into the field of grass towards the town. The wind picks up, trying to rip my hood from my head, but I hold it firmly in place. It blows the blades of grass in a way that makes me think of the waves of an ocean. In the sky, dark, gray clouds have emerged to block my view of the stars. Strange, the sky was clear before, these clouds seem to have come out of nowhere. I hope it doesn’t start to storm soon, I don’t want to trot back home in the rain.

We arrive to the entrance of town, following the dirt path to wherever it is she’s taking me. I spend some time to look around and really get a better look at the town, however, there doesn’t really seem to be much. If anything, this place feels deserted. Until, I hear a scuffling off to my right. I whip my head around to look, but all I find is an empty, open window. I hear a sharp creak of wood back to my left, and glancing back brings me to a door, slightly ajar before being quickly closed shut. It could just be the wind playing games with me, even so, it doesn’t take away the feeling that somepony might be watching me. Ignoring every other sound, I pull my hood over my ears, and focus all my attention forward.

“Well, here we are!” Says Suave excitedly, leading me to the front porch to one of the cottages. She knocks on the door, and after a while, it slowly creaks open. Standing before us is a tall, well-dressed stallion; but his most outstanding feature, is the white mask adorned on his face. It is similar to Suave’s with its sleek porcelain look, and dark eyes. “Hello Father.”

“Oh hello Suave, darling!” He happily greets. “I was wondering when you’d be returning home. . . And who is this you’ve brought with you?” He asks, leaning down to get a better look at me. With my hood tight over my head, I step back to hide behind Suave. “Now, now, there’s nothing to be afraid of. What is your name?” I can’t do it, I can’t bring myself to utter my name to him. My own fear has me by the throat.

“His name is Avral,” says Suave.

“Well hello there Avral. Why don’t you two come inside? It’s getting cold out here.”

“Yes Father. Come on Avral!” Suave follows her Father inside, but I am reluctant to set hoof through the doorway. I turn my head to gaze back down at the path I came, and I spot a mare staring at me from her doorway. It’s hard to tell as she is mostly shrouded by shadows, but I can see her dark green dress, and a small portion of what looks like the same porcelain mask Suave and her Father are wearing. The mare doesn’t try to hide, she merely continues to watch me. Wanting to escape, I enter Suave’s home as her Father closes the door behind me.

“Dear! Suave’s home! And she’s brought a friend!” By the pulsing light of a crackling fire in the fireplace, a mare steps down from the staircase. Her dark mane is tied back in a tail, her dress is vanilla white, and over her face, is the same white mask.

“Oh hello sweetie! I’m glad you’re home, and who is this you’ve brought with you?” The mare asks.

“Mother, this is Avral,” says Suave.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Avral. . ! Are you cold? Why do you have your hood on?”

“He’s just shy.”

“Oh, I see. Well Suave honey, why don’t you take him upstairs with you to your room and play? Your Father and I are going to prepare dinner. Would you care to stay and join us Avral?”

“Oh, I uh . . . I don’t know I mean . . . I should be heading home soon—”

“You must be hungry. Are you sure you can’t stay? Please, we insist.”

“Well . . . sure I-I suppose.”

“Great! I'll call you both down when it’s ready!”

“Uh thank you, Miss.”

“It’s no trouble at all dear, now you two go and play.”

“Come on Avral, let’s go!” Grabbing my hoof, she hurriedly guides me upstairs. She leads me into a room alighted only by the moonlight glaring through the single window near a well-made, little bed. Along the walls are shelves, filled with nothing but dolls of all sizes. Most of them are dressed in little, white dresses, but they all seem to have similar faces. They’re all pure white, except for their big black eyes. Suave hops onto her bed, giggling from her own excitement. “Well, welcome to my room! Do you like it?”

“. . . Yeah, it’s great. What’s this?” I ask, walking over to a little desk and drawer.

“Oh that’s my make-up desk.” For a make-up desk, it’s very odd. There’s a tall, round opening for where a mirror should be, but there’s nothing.

“Shouldn’t there be a mirror here?”

“Mirror?”

“Yeah, you know, a mirror so you can see what you’re doing.”

“What’s a mirror?”

“What do you mean? You . . . you don’t know what a mirror is?”

“I’ve never heard of it before. What is it?

“Well, it’s kind of like glass, except you can see your reflection in it.”

“That sounds incredible! Do you think you could show me one sometime?”

“Yeah I uh . . . I guess. . . So, I saw your Mom and Dad are wearing masks too.”

“Yeah, I told you, we all must wear our masks. My parents told me that we’re never supposed to take them off.”

“Well, then, how do you put on your make-up without taking off the mask?”

Suave then tilts her head in confusion. “I don’t think I understand. . . Why would I take my mask off to put on my make-up?”

“Becau— . . . Don’t you—? Never mind.” I take a seat on the little chair near her make-up desk, trying to rid my head of the maze I had found myself in from her question. “So, you never told me ‘why’ everypony has to wear the masks.”

“My Father just told me so. I always do what Father says, or else he puts me in the room.”

“Room? W-What room?”

“The room he puts me in to let me think. Until I’ve learned. I remember the first time he put me in there. . .”

“. . . We’re you scared?”

“I was, very scared. That’s why I always do whatever he says. I never want to go back in there. That’s why I wanted you to promise you wouldn’t tell my Father I went into the woods. I don’t want to go back in there.” I can hear her voice growing weak, the first sign she might start to cry. Although, she may have already started, but I would never know with that mask in the way.

“Don’t worry, I made a promise, and I’m keeping it. I won’t tell them anything about you being in the woods, I swear.”

“Thank you, Avral.”

“Sure. . .”

“Anyway, why don’t you tell me more about you? What’s your home like?”

“Well, I mean . . . I love my Mom and Dad, and everypony in town is just really friendly. Everyone smiles and laughs.”

“Really?”

“But not me. It’s hard to remember a time where I did either of those things. Probably because I never wanted to show my face to anyone. I think this is actually the . . . fourth or fifth time we’ve moved to a new town.”

“Why?”

“It’s because of me. I always complain to them about getting bullied at school, now I feel like I’ve become an annoyance because of it.” I can feel tears starting to build up behind my eyes, I know I should just stop talking, but I can’t. Unlike anypony else, I feel like I can actually talk with Suave, and that she’ll actually listen. “I make them miserable, I know I do. We can’t just settle in and live like a normal family without me forcing them to move every so often.”

“You shouldn’t think like that.”

“Why not? It’s true.”

“How do you know?”

“I heard my Dad say so himself.” Suave silences, clearly stunned by my statement. “I remember the very night he said that to my Mom.” Suave simply sat, ready to listen, as I prepare myself to tell her all about that night.

It was after we had already moved a few times, which I could tell was hindering at my Father’s sanity when I watched him carry the cardboard boxes full of our belongings to the mover’s carriage. I was lying in bed, and I could hear my parents’ voices all the way from downstairs. I crept out from my bedroom, and I could see the amber glow of the dining room light against the walls of the hall. I snuck down each step, careful not to press down too hard in case they might creak. I peered around the corner and between the bars of the railing, watching them talk at the dinner table. My Mom said, “Darling, just give it some time. Maybe in this new town, it’ll be easier for him.”

“I don’t know hon, I think this is getting out of control,” my Dad said.

“It’s for our son. I’m not going to have him go to school every day just to be mocked by some kids.”

“And do you think I want to see that happen? Hon, when I would get made fun of, I just learned to brush it off and not think about it.”

“Right, but you didn’t have his problem. Would you be able to just ‘brush it off’ if, at that age, some of your classmates poked fun at you and laughed at you because of the way you look, and you look in the mirror and feel that they were right? Sweetie, this is going to be something that’s going to affect him for his whole life.”

“. . . I know, I know.”

“I offered to take him to the Therapist.”

“No, there is no way I’m taking him to a Therapist. My son isn’t messed up in the head, all he needs to do is just learn to block everypony out.”

“Dear, I told you, he can’t do that—”

“Well maybe if he did we wouldn’t have to move every few months! We could just live like everypony else! Like a normal family! But no, because of a few things some kids say to him at school, you’re ready to let that dictate the decision of living in one spot?”

“Would you keep your voice down?! You’ll wake up Avral! I don’t care how many times we move, we will move until our son is happy!”

My Dad sighed. “Fine, we’ll keep trying; but if this keeps going, he has to learn to not worry about what other people say.”

“Okay, we’ll do that then, now just . . . let’s get some sleep. You’re stressed, and we need to get up early to call the movers.”

“I’ll meet you there, let me just check up on Avral.” I saw them both get up from their chairs, and I immediately crept back to my room and into my bed. I got under the covers, and turned myself away from the door. My Dad opened the door, and just watched me from the doorway. I heard him whispering, but I couldn’t tell what he was saying. Then I heard my Mom come up and tell him to come to bed. He left, and my heart was ravaged with guilt.

“It was the night that made me believe that the reason we can’t be a happy, normal family, is because of me. Ever since then, I never felt the same. I was just hoping that the next town or school would be a place where I can show my face and not have to hide behind this hood, but it never was. . . Today was my first day at my new school, and the first thing that happens, two girls laugh at me once they see my face. . . I just don’t understand. Why do I have to be so different?”

“. . . I ask myself that question all the time,” says Suave.