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Cinderella for a Night
by Kari J. Bodnarchuk

Excerpts:

Ana held a mirror in front of me and I couldn’t help but laugh. My face was ghostly white and long, fake lashes stuck to my eyelids, fanning out like peacock feathers and flapping each time I blinked. My stick-straight hair was teased into a nest of knots which would be impossible to comb out later, like untangling a handful of necklaces that have twisted into an inseparable web.
Ana set down the mirror and I glanced around the room. I was in an Indonesian guesthouse, surrounded by ten women and two kids who watched with curiosity as Ana attempted to transform me from a scruffy Western backpacker into an elegant Eastern partygoer . . .

. . .

. . . I fiddled with my eyelashes while I ate, until I convinced myself they were falling off and ripped them from my face. I felt more real and relaxed and sank lower in my seat, wanting to focus on the music, the food and the wedding ceremony rather than my own awkwardness. As we munched crispy pastries, a man with a camera appeared. When I sat up and smiled, he motioned for me to continue eating. I laughed and lifted a fork to my mouth. Flash! . . .

 

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