“You have had the power to be who you want, who you are, the whole time,” Carolyn told her client at what she hoped would be their final therapy session. “I can’t do it for you, but you can be who you really are.”
“I have to choose for myself,” Angela said, eyes wide, though red-rimmed and puffy. Cracks started to appear in the skin of her hands, arms, legs, and face.
Carolyn held her notepad up to shield her face as shards of humanity exploded from Angela. The young woman stood, a soft pearlescent glow emanating from her skin, eyes gone a deep, dark galactic blue, dotted with stars and swirls of purple. She shook herself, and a scatter of stardust pattered onto the arms of the chair and the floor.
“Thank you!” Angela smiled, and with a chiming of bells vanished.
Carolyn sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and looked around at the wreckage of her office. Discarded shards of humanity and stardust littered the floor, covered the furniture, had knocked over her diet soda. She got to her feet, and walked over to pull the vacuum out of her closet.
“If I ever catch the sonofabitch who keeps stuffing these Fae Creatures into human skins, I am going to hurt them for a very long time.” Her voice resonated like a bell, with the weight of a vow behind it. For a moment her eyes shone a wine dark red, and her teeth appeared longer. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and plugged in the vacuum.
Stardust was hell to get out of carpet, and the whole place would reek of violets and day-lilies if she didn’t get it up soon.