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Jobs Journalism Kwazulu Natal

A Woman Without a Mask

At 28, Clara Hayes has mastered the art of wearing masks. To her colleagues, she’s the perpetually cheerful graphic designer who never misses a deadline. To her overbearing mother, she’s the dutiful daughter hiding her anxiety behind polished smiles. To the world, she’s a woman who “has it all together”—except she’s crumbling inside. Clara’s life unravels during a corporate presentation where a panic attack strips her façade raw. Humiliated and exhausted, she flees to a quiet coastal town, renting a cottage owned by an eccentric, free-spirited potter named Marisol. There, Clara stumbles upon a dusty journal in the attic, its pages filled with haunting sketches and anonymous confessions from a woman who once lived there decades earlier. The entries mirror Clara’s own suffocating duality: “I paint myself in colors the world approves of, but my soul is a grayscale.” As Clara tentatively befriends Marisol and a reclusive widower, Eli, who runs the town’s crumbling bookstore, she begins confronting the lies she’s told herself for years. Through their unconventional guidance—and the journal’s cryptic wisdom—she starts shedding her masks one by one. But vulnerability comes at a cost: her corporate career teeters, her mother’s disapproval intensifies, and a buried trauma from her teenage years resurfaces, threatening to drown her newfound courage. When Clara’s raw, unfiltered artwork—created in secret—goes viral, she faces a choice: return to the safety of her old illusions or step into the terrifying freedom of living unapologetically. But the journal hides a final secret, linking Clara’s journey to the cottage’s mysterious past, forcing her to question whether true authenticity is a rebellion… or a homecoming.
Daoist5CDTxH · 543 Views

Lost Journal of a Doomed Transmigrator

I woke up in a strange forest, surrounded by monsters and strangers. No explanation, no warning—just a strange glowing Sphere in my dreams and the overwhelming instinct to survive. I'm not the only one. Others were thrown into this nightmare, each with their own Sphere, each fighting for strength, control, and power. Some formed alliances. Others turned to murder. The strong preyed on the weak, and the weak died screaming. I refused to die. With every kill, my Sphere grew stronger, feeding on the energy of the creatures in this cursed place. But I was never the strongest—just the most desperate. While others sought to rule, I chose to survive. Yet, no matter how much I tried to stay hidden, gods had other plans. Blood was spilled, a war was waged, and by the time it was over, only a handful of us remained. The greater truth—this forest, this "dungeon", was only the beginning. A vast world lay beyond its borders, filled with kingdoms, ancient magic, and creatures far worse than the ones we had already faced. The Sphere was more than just power; it was a curse, a trap, a key to something far greater than any of us understood. Something that exceeded our theories, and even endangered our old home, Earth. And we were never meant to survive. This is my story. My confession. My journal. _______________________________ The story does include romance, and a lot of tragedy. I will be posting this story on RoyalRoad under DOMinee. New chapters every week!
thePRIEST · 2.1K Views
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