Margaret Mallory

Margaret Mallory was a fraud. When had she begun to "pretend" to be smart and assertive and personable?

She'd been a shy child; so bashful that when she had to give an oral report, she’d stand rooted to the spot, nothing moving but her lips; expelling the entire recitation with one long breath of air until her face was red and her voice was straining to come to a hoarse conclusion.

Somehow that young child had grown up to become a successful businesswoman who regularly delegated tasks, spoke in front of rooms full of people, and was considered by her peers as smart, confident and vivacious. Yes, she often wondered, where had that woman come from?

Inside she was still that bashful, backward child. And sometimes, even in the middle of her busy, organized, professional world, that insecure child taunted her and whispered, "Just who do you think you are, Margaret Mallory?"

        

I've been doing some writing exercises.  I checked this site for some ideas and chose prompt #55 which instructed the writer to write a 150-word profile of someone named Margaret Mallory.  So I did (perhaps it's a few words over 150, but not many).  I was rather pleased with the result.  Hope you like it too. 

Actually when I started writing it, I had a page and a half before I knew it, and really wanted to continue exploring why Margaret never recognized herself in the woman she'd become.  I kept cutting and cutting and ended up with this; succinct, but it left me wondering.