Windows And Doors (Reflections Of Who I Once Was)

Chapter 1: Soul

When Reggie was young, he liked how he looked. Others said he was too tall and too thin, his headfeathers were too dark and greasy, his freaky fangs were long enough to stick out of his beak — but he didn't care, because he liked those things.

When Reginald was older, he didn't like how he looked anymore. His head was lumpy, his headfeathers were thin, his back was hunched over — but he didn't care, because he still had his mind, and that's what truly mattered to him.

When Bushroot mutated, he wasn't sure how he felt about his appearance. He was a freak with green skin, roots and wood, purple foliage — but he didn't look so old and sickly anymore. He looked, and felt, healthy again.

Then he'd catch his eyes in the mirror, and think he hadn't changed that much after all. The blue still sparkled like it did in his youth, wide orbs showing the intelligence he always prided himself on. The eyes were the windows to the soul, he'd heard.

Maybe his body had changed, maybe his mind had changed, maybe his priorities and ethics and emotions had changed — but he knew he was still the same man, no matter how much he feared otherwise, every time he looked at his reflection.