Metamorphosis

As time goes by, more frequently shayla comes across small interactions that both stun her and leave her tickled and flattered. For example, last night, a gentleman that normally only sees her in 'work mode' happened to see her as she was out on her Master's bike.

'Wow, where're you going so slick & pretty tonight?', he asked.

Shayla wasn't exactly dolled up, just a t-shirt and pair of jeans, hair down. And again today, on the way home from the grocery store on the bike. Same type clothes & so forth, but recieved an appreciative whistle as she rode past a gentleman walking through the parking lot. Both last night and today, she was the recipient of more than one look by men as she went about her business. Such little things are happening more often.

It's been literally years since shayla was taken note of in such a manner, and then only rarely. Then, such actions badly frightened and confused shayla. She was unable to understand the motivation behind it, and could only feel that she was in a dangerous situation. Looking back, she knows that much of her reaction was a direct result of societal conditioning, coupled with a learned dread of being noticed.

Now, though? She is not the same woman she was, even three months ago when she came to her Master. How much has she changed on the outside, appearance-wise? She really doesn't know. Shayla looks in the mirror and sees the same person that's always been there, a bit more relaxed, smaller than she was, perhaps a bit nicer-looking, but still the same. And she's got no idea how visible the increased confidence, calmness, and self-assurance are. Such things are, in shayla's experience, impossible for a person to tell for themselves. Much like viewing a forest in its entirety when you're in the middle of it.

Whatever the reason for them, she now takes these looks, compliments, and such as evidence that the effort she has been putting forth has been working. All the time she senses her improvement, her Master's increased pleasure with her even as she senses his hold on her tightening as a result of that growth. For as she grows in her service, his expectations of her grow with it. Master has mentioned to shayla more than once that "....to take a girl, crush all the doubts she has, burn away the Earth girl, refine her to become a kajira, would be to create a living work of art."

Quite clearly, that is what is happening. One stroke of the brush, one blow of the chisel at a time. It's astounding to shayla, witnessing this transformation.

shayla