My Aviator Grapes: A Short Story

My aviator sunglasses have flimsy gold-coloured frames and the left lens pops out frequently. I throw them in my purse at the end of the day and fish them out in the morning. Usually I dig around in my purse with one hand on the wheel while squinting to see the next bend in the road. Often when I pull my aviators out of my purse, an arm (or both) is bent into an origami shape - the crane, perhaps.
These sunglasses help me to avoid awkward conversations and they cover my tired face, as I walk my dog to the park. The large, sepia lenses hide most of my face, which is especially useful in the wee hours of the day when I have not applied any makeup to mold and shape my face (unless, of course, the left lens pops out…again). Not only have my sunglasses aided my stealthy morning walks, but they've helped me, recently, to hide a swollen eye at work.
It all began with an innocent pimple. (They all begin innocently, don’t they?) This particular pimple sprouted overnight. All day I prodded at it subconsciously. By the time I got home, I was out of patience and did something about it. Two minutes later, there was a bright red mark on my face. I covered it with a band-aid to pretend it didn't exist.

I panicked and built up layers of makeup on my face. I could not help but think of Egyptians laying bricks in ancient times, as I troweled on a little more foundation and spread it over the blemish in an attempt to blend the foundation into the rest of my face. At this point, I realized that my right eye looked different - smaller. Underneath my right eye was a hill of puffy skin. All that prodding and pushing had stressed my skin. No amount of foundation was going to hide a swollen eye. There was only one solution: I would wear my trusty aviators all day at