Flying Bento Box

This is an essay I wrote for a writing course during my third year at university. Parts of it are truths and parts of it are fictional but that doesn't really matter because the message, the meaning behind this is important.  Women. Strength. Confidence. and Beauty. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~             I was four years old when I first wore makeup. “Look how beautiful you were!” my mother said. She showed me an old, slightly creased photo. In it, a bewildered little Vietnamese girl stood next to an untamed rose bush, holding a giant red rose.  Perplexed, I studied the picture a little longer, a little closer to make sure she was really me. She had a pale, white face tinted with slightly pink blush on her plump round cheeks. Bright red dainty lips completed the image—a true, living doll. “She can’t be me,” I thought.   Growing up, I was quite the tomboy. I ran wild like the wind, laughing while chasing butterflies and blowing soap bubbles under the bright bl