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The Smile I Didn’t Feel

  • Writer: Kate Bender
    Kate Bender
  • Dec 5, 2025
  • 1 min read

Journal Entry – December 4, 1871


The house feels lighter today.

So do I.


The guests spoke softly at breakfast, as though something in the walls might overhear. Mrs. Crane asked why I was smiling, though I swear I wasn’t. But when I stood before the mirror, my reflection disagreed.


My eyes looked different — sharper, colder, brightened by a color I’ve never seen in them before.

I touched the mark on my arm and felt warmth — not from the skin, but from something moving beneath it, slow as a tide.


I asked the voice in the dark what it made me do.


Its answer was gentle:


“What you were ready for.”


And the strange part is —

I think it’s right.

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