SUMMARY
Oliver is a young craftsman specialized in creating masks used to smooth physical imperfections and enhance specific traits. His domain is perfection, and he has dedicated his life to obsessively pursuing it.
And yet, one spring day, a new client enters the shop and turns his whole world upside down.
DATA
- Genre : Literary Fiction, Dystopic
- Published: 14 March 2026
- Format: Novella - ePub, PDF
- Language: English
- Word Count: about 4,700
- CW: OCD, OSDD, Self-Harm, Anxiety, Depression.
download ePub
download pdf
Few words about it
Society can break us, and the standards for being considered 'normal' are so strict that it's easy to be pushed to the fringes, and all that you can do to survive is to cope.
This is what Oliver is trying to do: unwanted and unloved, he hides himself behind magical masks that are able to smooth over his flaws. Behind the mask, he deals with his demons, and the consequences of these battles are evident on the skin of his hands. Scratching them raw and constantly washing them are the only ways for him to fight his intrusive thoughts.
We meet him behind the counter of his shop, where he sells pre-made and personalized masks for other people to stand out in society — masks able to smooth and enhance both physical traits and external perceptions.
On the other side of the counter, Delta needs to blend in their uniqueness. They are too many, too much, and the usual masks crack, they are not powerful enough to contain them. For Delta, the mask represents only a personal effort against an unforgiving and excluding society; apart from this, they have accepted who they are, and have filled the scars of their battles against depression with gold.
Oliver is immediately intrigued by them, and finally sees that his life can be free from prejudice and shame. The encounter teaches him to acknowledge his own flaws, create something precious out of them, and celebrate diversity.
The novella includes OCD, OSDD, and Depression-Anxiety representation from the perspective of people who actually live with and try to thrive with them every day.