The Face (surreal story)

Colleen Mundy
Dr. Tony Barnstone
ENGL 302
March 3, 2009

The Face
My mother always told me not to make that face so much. When I wouldn’t get my way, or I wanted to be a trouble maker, I would make that face. It was always the same. No variations, no changes. It was a furrowed brow and squinted eyes, pouty lips and a squinched up nose. It was my favorite face and I made it every day. My mother said it was only a matter of time before my face would get stuck that way. I didn't believe her, but I always said I wouldn’t mind it even if it did get stuck like that. I liked the face I did; if I didn't like it, why would I make it so often?
I remember making the face for that last time. It started with the nose just like every other time. My nose perked up and my lips went into this kind of moping act and pushed my nose up more. It’s like my face had a mind of its own. I didn't have to think at all as my eyes shrunk to being barely open. There was just a single slit of light coming in through the space between my eye lids. My forehead collapsed on itself and the face was complete. I held it for a few seconds, for affect, but when it stayed that way for a few minutes and I realized I couldn’t move it my mother could only say “I told you so.”
I got used to my face staying like that really fast. Not being able to see everything wasn’t as bad as I thought it might have been. I decided that I could use that as an excuse to ignore people and things that I didn't want to do. My mouth being stuck closed in that permanent pout helped, too. I learned quickly that if I ever needed to relay information to someone, I could just write it down. My mother got me a note pad that I hung around my neck on a piece of string so I could have easy access to it.
My teacher got used to the face almost as quickly as I did. She thought I was just being a brat the first day; like I was going to hold the face she knew so well all morning. Then I gave her the note from my mother explaining. My teacher smiled and after that she just sat me in the front of the class and had me write down all of my answers in my note pad and show her. All the kids in my class thought it was funny and tried copying me. It turned into the big thing at school. “The Face.” Everyone started to challenge each other to see how long they could hold the face.
None of them could beat me.