Made Up

I could phone mum but I’ve got these moths. They fly in the window when I switch on the light.

When I sneak down to the lounge I see dad on the sofa, watching a documentary about hospitals. He doesn’t look at me: I’m ugly. I cough to check he knows I’m here. He glances in my direction, but my face is so ugly he has to turn back to the screen. I’m even uglier than an operation.

With my window shut and door locked, I put the moths on a pad of A4 writing paper and crush their wings with the heel of my left shoe. The wings turn to powder silver like makeup, also like the edge of the writing pad. I stand in front of the mirror the window makes with the curtains open and apply the moth wing powder to the cheeks of my face. When I go back down, dad has to look twice. I waltz out into the garden and gaze up at the stars that spell my name.

Daren King’s debut novel, Boxy an Star, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. His new novel, Jim Giraffe, was published by Jonathan Cape in February 2004.

[ daren@darenking.co.uk ]