I watched her proud stature as she walked down the stairs in her royal blue dress. She looked magnificent. Gazes turned to her as she passed. People looked at her with awe in their expressions.
It was like something out of a dream. Her last chance to stand out, to live. Tomorrow, she'd be admitted back into the hospital, but today was hers and hers alone. I knew she would make the most of it. She would own the room during her speech, everyone would listen to every word that left her lips with rapt attention.
I knew that what looked so effortless was requiring all her strength. She hadn't been able to stand on her own for weeks now, but with the medications she had been given, she was stronger today. Strong enough for this, strong enough to pretend one last time.
Her eyes locked with mine across the room and she gave me a small smile, and I understood it to mean that she had no regrets. Even though today was going to cost her a lot, even if it would shorten her life even more, she had no regrets, for she was herself again.
Her blonde hair was perfectly smooth again, her dark gray eyes piercing, and her clothes meticulously arranged around her as she walked around the room to shake hands and offer advice to the children who would Choose today.
I watched her walk to the front of the stage and pronounce a speech about the importance of the Choice and of knowing one's place in society. A different speech than the previous year, she never repeated herself.
Her last speech.
When she walked to the back of the stage and to me, when she disappeared from the public eye, her shoulders dropped slightly and a sigh left her lips. She knew it was over.
The dream was over. Now, it was time to face reality.