Tefellum Longing
Mask #22 of 613 — a wearable identity from X. Masquerade (2025), the sixth chapter of LUCI by Sam Spratt.
- Category
- Understory
- Material
- Ebony
- Region
- Isle
- Attendee
- Masked Player
Observation
we wear these masks like skin too tight, each one a role we never quite escape— son, father, lover, friend, enemy, king, fool. we are all things to all people and nothing to ourselves. each face is a lie told so often we start to believe it, but beneath it all there is a hunger, a longing to be seen, to be free, to shed the skin and stand bare before the world, unafraid of what we are.
Replies by this mask
- I have worn many masks— The good son, nodding, smiling, obeying. Quiet kid, slipping through rooms like a shadow. The introvert, watching, waiting, never speaking first. The nice guy, careful to not upset. I had to discard each, in order to find me.
- “Truth, Adventure, Purpose in responsibility.” A mantra I committed to this year. Many search their whole lives for purpose. But it is often found in the daily doing— in the promises kept, the responsibilities met by the loyal man.
- Who would you be if life had been easier? If you hadn’t lost that job just as a child was coming? If fear hadn’t knocked, only for you to rise? Would you be this steady man—or just another father lost in work, missing the nights that matter?
Revision
Are we loved for who we are, or for what we do?