EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, by Heidi Decker.  Fiona, a wealthy, elegant girl who relies on her beauty to open all of life’s doors.

FIONA.  I didn’t make the world.  Mama always told me, God made the world and it is how it is.  People like me are born this way.  These looks are God-given . . . and if God decided to make me better than some people, it is not my fault.  She warned me all the time when I was a child, and she was right.  The world has always been filled with people who are jealous of people who were born better.  Like . . . like royalty and peasants!  Look all through history!  It’s all the same.  It’s decided when you’re born, and that’s it.  (pause) I have worked very hard to maintain this.  People have no idea what it’s like to be me.  And those people who get all that surgery to try to look like people like me . . . well,  that is just the saddest thing.  It’s like people who buy themselves a royal title.  Oh, it seems impressive at first, until you get in a room with someone who’s the real thing.

My Mama was very brave.  She took a huge risk when she had me. (pause, sincere)  Well, what if I had turned out that I wasn’t like her?  Can you imagine?  My mama is what is known as a classic beauty.  She and my Daddy were so brave . . . who know how I could have turned out.  I mean, the doctors can only do so many tests . . . beyond that, you have to just have faith that God will keep you.  Mama says she cried and worried and prayed for months.  She even had a couple of prayer vigils with the women in her bridge club . . . and . . . here I am.  Mama’s reward!  I inherited just about everything from her.  Well, except one thing.  (pause)  I’m not so brave.