It was my birthday on Saturday. I woke late and went for a long piss, where I noticed my first grey hair in the mirror. Fair enough, I thought. I went down and sat for breakfast with my family and my wife. We drank ample coffee and ate various treats in the form of pancakes, mince pies and sausages. I got some wonderful presents. Almost the entire time I fiddled with a small skin tag just to the inner corner of my left eye. It was quite recently flat and minuscule, barely there, but in a moment of boredom in front of the mirror around two months ago, I squeezed it. It instantly rose and became a small flap that rubbed next to the frame of my glasses. It had the appearance of a shining white-headed spot in the final stages of growth. I hated it and thought about it every day for long periods. I couldn’t help but try to push it back into obscurity, or to squeeze it hard enough that it might fall off. It became such a habit that I generally found, in moments of rest, that my finger idly sat in the corner of my eye gently rubbing at it. It often made me depressed to think of my obsession with such a small insignificance.
And so it happened that my greatest birthday present came just then, at the table, as I felt the little flap harden and dry under my finger. It came right off, mid-sentence. I was talking about train times or something similarly inane and did not pause or change my tone as it came away from the thin, dry skin close to my eye. I kept my cool, and kept the little piece of skin rolling between my fingers. I discreetly absconded to the bathroom at my first chance and inspected my face, carefully placing the little piece of me by the sink. I felt something akin to losing a pet as I watched it fall off the edge of the sink and into the obscurity of the floor. Oh well. There was no doubt that this removal was a massive improvement. A barely noticeable mark showed where the tag once was. Back to how it was before. I felt a deep satisfaction as I remembered it was my birthday, and how appropriate it was that I had anguished for two months over this small imperfection in preparation for this effortless gift. It was for sure the best birthday I ever had.
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