We looked at each other. As we did I wondered what this young woman in her prime made of her teacher’s middle-aged rant. Did she find me brave, determined, self-pitying, pious, pathetic, grandiose, grandiloquent … destroyed, but not defeated? A staring match ensued. Generally I discouraged my students from leaning on eye color when describing characters. Who cares if the heroine’s eyes are green or blue — or polka-dotted, for that matter? But it mattered just then, to me. Ashley’s eyes were a dusty cuprous oxide with bright bits of copper shining through. It made a difference too how they gazed unblinkingly into mine, their lengthy lashes curling inward. These were qualities I would not have wanted to miss on the page or elsewhere.
“My stars — that was some speech!”
“You liked it?”
“Do
