‘Tell me I’m beautiful’ she laughed so you said
‘Honey you are beautiful.’
She said ‘why am I beautiful?’ So you said
‘Because of the way the light hits your hair and the way that your cheeks dimple when you smile.’
‘Am I beautiful only in the light?’ A shadow crossed her face
‘You are beautiful in the day and the night. I see your face in the sun and in the stars.’
She smiled, not quite content with the final answer.
Tell me the truth, you beautiful liar.
So you take a deep breath and say
‘You are beautiful in the way that a forest fire is beautiful. You’re destructive and painful, impossible to hold. But there’s a spark in you that makes me think that you might be a little bit magic.’
‘And so that is why I am beautiful?’
‘Yes.’
She giggled and pulled you close. ‘Then you are beautiful because of the wicked lies that you tell.’
You start to protest but she holds a finger to your lips
‘Hush now, don’t protest. You are beautiful for your magnificent stories, for your lies and imagination. You are beautiful because you are the most treacherous darling I have ever met and even that is an understatement.’
‘Oh.’ You say. Because just like that, she’s taken all your words away.