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once there was a girl.  she was not your ordinary girl.  she was known for her beauty, her wit, her charm.  and for her unfailing ability to exaggerating all truths.  and she was loved.  oh, she was loved.  for her delight in being frank.  in fact, she would ever so often throw her bold words into a room, watch them bounce around and land where they may.  with never a care in the world.

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she was the talk of the town.  the belle of the ball.  the queen of the dance.  but not the river dance, mind you.  the boys?  they would line up around the block.  just for a single kiss.  and the girls?  they emulated her style.  babies cooed in her arms. did i tell you she was loved?  oh, she was loved.

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but she was reckless.  not only with her words.  but with her beauty.  the beauty that was the envy of even the most glamorous, the most sophisticated, the most elite.  she moved on her every whim.  she proceeded without a thought for the consequences.  she knew she would still be loved.  oh, she would be loved.  regardless.

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this was her thought the day she fell asleep with henna in her hair and woke up to annie colored locks.  who cared?  so what?  the world was her footstool and she the master.  so she looked like a character from ronald mcdonald?  if all else failed, if her wit and her charm could not pull her through, she could always wear a hat.  and she did.  with her head held high.  and at the drop of that said hat, she was still loved.  oh, she was loved.

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so again, she threw caution to the wind.  without a care.  without a thought.  without a worry.  she plowed forward.  the world was her oyster.  the mayonnaise to her tuna sandwich.  the cherry to her chocolate.  the olive to her martini.

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did i tell you, she also had the innate talent of mixing all the metaphors she knew?  she didn’t care.  in her mind, they made perfect sense.  like the sweet scent of dew after a morning rain.

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until that day.  that fateful day.  the day the sun stopped smiling at her.  the day the tree leaves stopped waving to her.  the day the stars stopped winking at her.  the day she met her match with a jar of wax.

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it sounds innocent enough.  wax.  how much harm could be found here?  her who cares attitude took hold and she did not heed the sounds of danger flashing through her mind.  she thought to herself, “i am not an ordinary girl.  i am the cat’s meow.  the dog’s pajamas.  the bee’s knees. “  she was so reckless she didn’t even care that one of those lines was pure nonsense.  dogs don’t wear pajamas.  then again, do bees have knees?

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but she should have cared.  oh, how she should have cared.  because the outcome of that day.  the infamous day.  that day that will ring in the minds and brains and heads of boys and girls for all eternity.  the outcome was grave.

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she is now known not as the girl to be envied.  not as the girl to be kissed.  not as the girl to be loved.  no.  she is now known as the girl with no eyelashes on her left eye.  and she is rued.  oh, how she is rued.

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and so i write these words not as a sonnet.  nor as a ballad.  not even as a comedy.  though we are all aware that one girl’s sorrow is often another one’s pleasure.  no.  no, i write these words as a caution.  a caution to the reckless.  a caution to the careless.  a caution to the beautiful.  because now this girl.  this sad, sad girl.  she only has her wit.  and she only has her charm.  and really?  what is that?

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the end.