I am Love by Bogdana Fediuk

There is darkness around,

which seems to flow from the heart and spread throughout the room, the curtains are wide open. The girl was sitting at the table on which the phone was lying, it was not ringing. It does not receive messages. On screen, she saw her reflection. She was looking at a monster that no one loves, that no one needs. Hate is the feeling she constantly feels when she looks at herself in the mirror. What prevents her from feeling love? Who is to blame for this? Why her?

She carried this burden for many years. She does not remember exactly when it started. Maybe she was laughed at school because her clothing from the bazaar was not worth being in the same class with the “elite” of the school yard. Or when she fell in love for the first time and was ignored because she was not a slender beauty with model skin and a wallet full of dollars, her mediocrity was maddening. And those glasses... God, she hated those glasses with all her heart, but she couldn't live without them because without them, she couldn't see beyond her nose. Her hair was always tied in a ponytail, she wore a hoodie to hide the folds on her stomach and her 110-centimeter hips. 

Then she grew up. Although the number on the scales has become smaller, although she now wears contact lenses, but she has never learned to love herself. She felt like dirt. But suddenly a man entered the room. He told her, “You are. Be happy that you are. I will be near to rejoice with you because for me you are a treasure." A glimmer of light appeared in the soul. But so far only a glimpse. The phone rang, and she picked it up. 

- Hello! Don't hang up, I took your number from a friend. We have met before, but you probably don't remember because you were very busy with papers then. Can I invite you for coffee? Just don't refuse, I saw you and lost sleep because of your eyes.