Fragments Gallery
Analysis
You stand at the mirror studying your reflection.
Two eyes stare back at you, but they seem… alien. In ways they’re unfamiliar to you and yet you know they’re your own. You have changed so much. When you stare at yourself you can see what you are now, just as underneath that you can see what you once were. Is it possible to see what you will be? No probably not.
You've experienced so much, seen even more, and yet do you find yourself wiser? Maybe. Maybe in some ways. Probably not in others.
Looking back now on your choices you know that for some you would have decided differently. But is that wisdom? Does that mean you’re wiser now to choose differently? Or would you choose differently because you now know the repercussions of those choices in your life. Maybe hindsight is wisdom. Maybe.
Your thoughts drift away…
You lean in towards the mirror. Are those wrinkles around your eyes? How long have those been there? The wrinkles cut across the scar you have beside your right eye, the scar you had earned so long ago. Your parents had berated you for years about being more careful after that. But all you had done was bash your head after slipping on some ice.
That had been when you were a child, still in elementary school. Things had been so much simpler back then. Simpler and yet bigger. Nothing had mattered as much then, but it felt as though everything you did was significant. You hadn't needed to make important decisions; everything was laid out for you. Everything was plain to see, there were no hidden dangers, at least none that you knew of, and everything had always seemed right.
Oh, what you would give to go back to those times. To lose your years of old baggage. To have a fresh start on life, to experience the best moments of your life again for the first time. You could find your friends once again, relive your childhood dreams, and even meet that special person for the first time. Your greatest achievements would pass you by once more, but so would your darkest moments and those mistakes you regretted the most.
There have been mistakes, hopefully you learned from them but you know that sometimes it took you a while to figure things out.
Your lips tighten in the mirror.
Looking at yourself now you seem so old, but you can't remember ever aging. It just happened while you weren't looking; it seems age sneaks up on everyone.
You blink and so much has passed you by.