The disfigured man

Alicia was a renomed top model. She knew how to dress perfectly and usually spent hours in front of her mirror to make herself look beautiful. She was the true reflection of a perfect Barbie doll.

When she looked at herself. she was always happy to look that good. On her day off, she decided to have a coffee at a sunny terrace in Paris, very near the Eiffel Tower.
Alicia was about to light a cigarette when her eyes suddenly met some stranger s eyes. This man-or so she thought-was probably the ugliest creature on earth.

He seemed disfigured. His face was full of scratches and it seemed he had been shanked on his left cheek. His eyes, though, had a very intense glance. He looked like a nice person and greeted Alicia in a friendly way:

-May I offer you another coffee, young lady? Maybe we can have a little talk before I go back to work?

Alicia usually didn t accept invitations from strangers, but her heart told her to do so today.
As they both engaged a conversation, she asked Michael ( that was the man s name), what had happened to him.
He explained her that he had been attacked a few years ago, in the middle of the street, after coming back from work, at the time he was still living in England.

" You must be a very unhappy man, she said. I couldn t live with a disfigured face, I d prefer myself to be dead instead."
"Alicia, listen to me. Actually, I am a very happy man. I could be dead, but they saved my life at the hospital and I am very grateful to be still alive. I enjoy life like I never did in the past."


" Really?", she said in great disbelief.
" Yes, Alicia. You can be as beautiful as you want. You can wear the most beautiful clothes on earth and wear the best make up. But if your soul is ugly inside and full of mockery for people who don t meet your standards of physical beauty, you are INDEED a very ugly person!"

Alicia felt like a sword of truth piercing her heart as Michael pronounced these words.
As she crossed Michaels glance again, she began sobbing.
Michael put his hand on her shoulder and hugged her tenderly.
She looked at him again and suddenly noticed the inside beauty of this man. It was like  a deep soul connection with her own inner soul. 

She smiled at him and said: " You are one of the most beautiful persons I have ever met."

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling