It was a lot of work, others might have thought, to do her nails differently each day. Selecting from a variety of sheens and textures and colors and translucencies, pairing or contrasting with her outfit. Some people, surely, thought that much effort was a waste of time. So many better things to do. Write a letter to a friend. Make a pie.
Truthfully, though, she didn't engage in the nightly manicure ritual for appearance's sake. She did it to distract herself from the news, which had sucked her into such a squelching mudhole, out of which she wasn't sure she'd be able to claw herself. If she could just, for 30 minutes a day, stare at something other than headlines, maybe she could breathe again.
And so she went. Nail by nail. Easy-peel basecoat. Color. Glitter. Quick-dry topcoat. And there were 30 minutes spent not in abject fear, but in concentration. And, when she'd tug strips of the paint away the next day, nail by nail... there were 30 seconds of relief.
For https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-187-5-minute-freewrite-tuesday-prompt-nail