Fiction Friday: [Halloween 1984]

The mask
was a concentrated heatwave.
Every exhale filled the nooks and crannies
of the pre-BPA free plastic and
applied layer after layer
of slickness.
The slits at the nose and mouth,
embarrassed by their uselessness.

The body,
slipped over my street clothes
like a doctor heading into surgery.
and tied at the back,
proudly displayed the name across
my chest…
in case the mask wasn’t enough.

The world
had to know,
there could be no doubt
that I was, indeed,
Strawberry Shortcake.