the girl in the attic

You will never again be as young and beautiful as you are in this moment.

Hidden away in my attic is a large, gold-framed oil painting—a portrait of my younger self. The girl in the attic has flawless, creamy skin and immaculate, quizzical brows. Her hair is a thick, dark mass, a few stray strands curling across her temple. She gazes solemnly into the distance, hands tangled together in her lap. Unlike the smooth surface of a…