Brush, Brush, Brush

 

Brush, Brush, Brush.

She raised her heels, burdened her fragile toes with her body weight, and looked in the mirror as she was brushing her teeth.While doing so,with her free hand, she tucked a stubborn grey strand behind her right ear.

She rinsed her mouth, wiped her mouth with the towel kept by the sink and placed it carefully back.

She looked in the mirror and this time she noticed that her hazel eyes had lost the sparks they once held. They now looked tired and stiff. She sighed hopelessly, picked up her toothbrush,squeezed the toothpaste into it and started brushing.

Brush, Brush, Brush.

This time she stared at her skin.Her skin which was once an object of envy among her girlfriends, now resembled the crepe paper she used to  make rose flowers, while teaching origami to the kids from her neighbourhood.

She spat in the sink after she was done and placed her toothbrush back at its place.

She continued to look intently in the mirror for a while, until she finally came out of her trance. She looked around and realised she was in her bathroom but sadly she could not recall anymore why she had come here in the first place. Minutes passed as she stared blankly at herself in the mirror,and then she noticed her yellow teeth. Her yellow smile, as her 8 year old grandson, Colton says.

And right on cue, she heard a knock on her bathroom door and then saw Colton barge in.

“Nana,hurry up! We are leaving in five minutes! You have been brushing your teeth for almost an hour now.” He said exasperated.

“I’ll be out in a jiffy.”,she sheepishly said.And after he left,she picked up her toothbrush, washed it under the tap,squeezed out a generous amount of paste and started brushing her teeth all over again.

Brush, Brush, Brush.