I readied myself and fixed my gaze on the mirror.

I had always been short and scrawny, but now I was gaunt. Sickly. Ghastly palor like a corpse, with a matching physique. Dry, cracked skin caked in dirt. Tattered clothes hung from my withered frame. Muddy brown hair a wild wilderness, with a scraggly beard to match. Eyes sunken in, exhausted. Like two broken, dead emeralds. I was near skin and bones, hips and ribs jutting out like rugged mountains. My spine was defeated, slumped forward. Shoulders followed suit. Deep wrinkles betrayed my youth. I looked as awful as I felt.