Losing Face

There was a woman who was scared of losing face. Whenever she walked out of the house, she covered her face with a thick veil with only slits for her eyes. No one could see her face, but she could see everyone. Her face stayed concealed and could never be lost. This went on for some time.

With age, her fears matured. She feared her veil was not adequate to keep her face from getting lost. So, she wished to keep it locked safely.

Now, in her town, there lived a magician. She decided to consult him about keeping her face locked. He gave her something better — something that would hide her identity from the whole world — a special cream which would save her face from being identified by making the features disappear. The onlookers would only see a stretch of skin — flat skin without any features.

The woman thought this was an excellent way of saving her face from others. She gave him her gold chain and gold ring in exchange for the cream for he would not accept cash or credit cards.

Every morning, she would apply the cream after her bath and go out to shop without the encumbrance of a veil for all that people saw was a stretch of blank skin where most had eyes, nose and mouth.  People were so scared of her that they just rushed away from her or avoided her altogether. Shop keepers would hide under their counters. That did not deter her. She would pick up what she needed, leaving the money on the counter, for she was a decent and an honest woman.

She gained confidence. Earlier she would only eat in the kitchen of her home. Now, she even ate openly in front of others. Though she opened her mouth, no one could see it — not even she herself. The food just disappeared in the featureless face.

The woman was not scared of herself. She could see her features before she applied the cream every morning and after it wore off. The effect lasted only for six hours. Then, she reapplied it again if she were going out. And then she tried applying it when others came home. Then some more…again. And again….

Slowly her features started fading. They started continuing unclear even without the cream.  But she was still scared of losing her face. So, to keep it safe, she applied more cream than was recommended.

Her features started losing their definition and clarity. The sister with who she lived — for they were both unmarried orphans — left for she was scared of this strange woman who could slowly transition to facelessness whenever she chose. The woman did not care. She scoffed at her sister’s departure and kept increasing the quantity of the cream beyond all recommended limits. One day, when she woke up, all her features had disappeared.

In an attempt to save her face, she had lost all the features on her face that gave her an individual identity.

When the woman looked into the mirror, she could see only blank smooth skin stretched across her face — no mouth, no nose and no eyes! She could see and eat and talk but nothing showed on the blank stretch of skin stretched across her skull.

She stopped putting the cream for a week, hoping her features would reappear. Nothing happened — her face continued featureless — a stretch of smooth skin.

She went back to look for the magician for now she wanted her features back. But his home had disappeared. Some said the magician and his home had disappeared in a puff of smoke with a cackle of laughter accompanied by thunder and lightning. Others said he had disappeared as his home had turned into a flying saucer— which was not a surprise as he had pointed ears and could well be an alien.

The faceless woman was distraught. Everyone ran away from her as her features had faded completely and they thought she was some kind of a faceless monster. She was left with nothing except the materialisation of her greatest fear — of losing face. She was as terrified as the others. She screamed and screamed in anguish and frustration till she turned into a banshee.

Even now, on lonely nights, when you walk by the narrow roads near her village, you can hear her screams. If it’s a misty night, you might even see the faceless banshee wafting in the fog… looking for her own eyes, nose and mouth.

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Image: Rajasekhar chandram