A Story A Day. Story 300 of 365: Halloween (Part II).

Halloween was Dougal's favorite holiday. Or rather, it was his favorite day of the year as it was the only day when no one would stare at his face and the skin on his arms. People would dress up to go out that night, but Dougal didn't need to, and hadn't needed to since he was sixteen, more than twenty years back. He remembered those times, he was reckless and proud, and took everything for granted. 

Dougal stared in the mirror and a face like melted rubber stared back at him, his nose was barely more than a stub, his lips a line. His golden hair was all gone, his head bald as an egg. His blue eyes, behind hardly functional eyelids, were still the same, but they were the only thing that had remained unchanged. 

Sometimes it still hurt, it burnt. Some nights he would wake up feeling his skin melt off again, the tendrils of the acid tracing scars in his flesh. He would wake up screaming, clawing at his face with his disfigured nails, the same as he had done  when Fingal had poured the acid on him. He remembered vividly that day, it is not usual to have your life changed for worst. He still hated Fingal for ruining his life, the boy had claimed he had done it to avenge his sister, but Dougal always thought he had made it out of envy. Regardless, Fingal had killed himself after dousing Dougal with acid, therefore the truth remained undiscovered. After all those years, and after all that suffering, Dougal still didn't admit that what he had done to Opal was horrible. But at least, his twisted mind was finally reflected on his twisted appearance.