A story of InHer beauty

there are were two pumpkins outside our dorm room door this morning before the moist heat of fall buildings forced us to place them out of doors entirely. they read: INHER BEAUTY and A SAD STORY, BE. and in their moist melting they detail the statement my two roommates and i tried to make last night with our hair, our dress, and our handy-dandy eyeliner.

"WE represent beauty" we replied to the countless number of questioning looks we got all night long.

as "worldy beauty" i tried not to be seen without my cohorts, "biblical" and "inner" beauty. sadly a mini-skirt, skanky top, and layers of impersonal makeup does not seem costume worthy for our world today. while my outfit took the most work, it was meg, as "biblical beauty", who aroused the most curiosity. I guess taking the restrictive aspects of the bible literally enough to cover your hair, wear a DJellaba, and draw an x in eyeliner over your lips deserves to be note worthy.

"we REPRESENT beauty" i wanted to scream at the mens eyes i felt linger on me in a different way than usual.

the mask i placed over my face, and the lack of clothing that exposed my skin are not the reality i see. as i watched grace cover my face in heavy make-up i felt my individuality fade away and i wondered at this standard some women strive for. it took effort not to scream when people complemented me, though knowing that some were seeing the statement and not the mask was helpful.

"we represent BEAUTY" grace could sing if she wished.

a multitude of colors, creatively braided hair, and a personal strength that could never be revealed by all the makeup in the world and declared by the bunny slippers on her feet. she was the epitome of what i strive for everyday. declaring the heavenly beauty of God incarnate in her spirit with each step, each breath, and each word.

"we represent beauty" i thought as meg and i removed the eyeliner, me from my eyes and her from her lips, and changed into our sweats to get ready for bed.

and somehow, after 5 hours of work and this repeated chorus along with a detailed description of just how "we represented beauty", we managed to add some unexpected depth to a Christian college's Halloween costume competition.

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