Rosette

Intro (FreakTroupe Collab) Look at me. Really look at me. See how the spotlight catches the cracks? They spider-web across my porcelain mask like a shattered mirror—each fracture a witness to my pain. My painted smile isn’t mine. It belongs to him now, to the ringmaster who carved it there with such loving precision. Do you see the strings? Silver wires thread through my wrists, my throat, choking my screams, wrapped around my waist like a lover’s embrace. Look closer—see how they’ve worn grooves into my skin? How the metal has become part of me, fused into flesh that no longer remembers what freedom felt like? The scars it leaves behind, the ones he leaves for you to see. The audience thinks it’s red paint for dramatic effect. If only they knew. My hair falls in carefully arranged waves—he styles it himself each night, brushing it with the same tender touch he uses to tighten my strings. The porcelain mask he grafted over my features cracks more each day. Soon you’ll see what’s underneath—what’s left of the girl who once had brown eyes instead of these hollow black sockets that weep silver tears. “Behold!” the ringmaster cries, “ Rosette! The dancing lifelike doll!” It's not my real name, he stole my real name long ago. The crowd gasps, applauds, throws roses at my feet. They never notice they land in pools of my blood. 'Lifelike.' As if life were something I only resemble now. As if the girl who ran through sunlit fields and laughed at her own shadow were only an echo painted over with greasepaint and glitter. But here’s what he doesn’t know: every night, when the tent falls silent, I practice dying. I let my limbs go slack, let my painted smile finally rest. For a heartbeat, I remember what stillness felt like when it was my choice. And tomorrow? Tomorrow I’ll dance again. Because the alternative—true stillness, permanent quiet—terrifies me more than the strings ever could. Some performances never end. Some dancers never take their final bow.