Alysse's Weightlifting Heroics

"The sun is shining and the birds are singing, but I don't hear any of it."

I sigh. My shoulders sag. My eyes gaze at the floor. I feel like a failure. I feel like a fraud.

I rinse my face in the sink, then stare into the mirror. A stranger stares back at me. I don't recognize him. His face looks too thin, too pale. His body looks as if it is emaciated, wasting away, week by week. His eyes are dark, sunken and empty, devoid of life and sparkle. He has no hair on his head, no strength in his muscles, no joy in his heart. He has lost all hope and he calls himself "Gino".

"Who are you?" I ask the man in the mirror; he appears to be on the verge of tears. "What have you become?"

I turn away from my reflection and walk over to my bed where I sit down on its edge with a heavy thud that resonates throughout my soul. "You look like shit," I say to myself with a chuckle. "Couldn't even get a date for prom."

My high school dance, which had been held just last night... The single worst night of my life! Alysse Riese had failed miserably at getting asked to prom by her boyfriend, Tom Cruise Wright, who had surprised her with a ring box full of rocks and dung beetles instead (he later confessed that he was having an affair with one of her best friends). She walked the long drive home alone with tears streaking down her cheeks as she cursed herself for being so weak and stupid as to believe that her love would ever want her back after she had left everything behind and moved half-way across the world only to find out he had cheated on her every chance he got... And yet here she was now still trying to hold onto some small shred of hope that maybe if she changed her appearance enough for him to recognize her again then he would take pity on her and treat her nicely for once in their relationship... That maybe if she could become more muscular like those female weightlifters she always admired so much then maybe she could win back his love... That maybe if she could finally get him to call off their break up that he would forgive her transgression and maybe even thank her for having gone through so much trouble just for them to reunite again!

"I've really done it this time," I mumble as I lean forward and bury my face in my hands hoping it will keep my tears at bay when suddenly a small black lump falls out of my right hand's grasp: there, sitting on top of my palm is a tiny plastic figurine, one that looks exactly like the one Tom gave me when we first started dating... And there is something written on its base... Something that reads: "To Alysse: From Tom."

"What? No..." I gasp as memories begin flooding back into my mind: memories of our short but passionate relationship together when we were both children growing up together in Australia during the 2nd century BCE... Memories of how we first met; memories of our time together; memories of all those wonderful days we spent together before she left everything behind and flew halfway around the world only to be confronted with the fact that he had been cheating on her every chance he got!

"But this can't be!" I exclaim as reality begins closing in around me! "This can't be happening!"