Face Stealer

Flitting into the kitchen I interrupted my mom and her friend as they were talking. "Can we go play in the stream?" 

"Why don't you play on the trampoline instead," my Mom answered as she stirred the tomato sauce on the stove. 

I frowned but turned towards the door. 

"You know," my Mom's friend said as her own kids came tailing after me "You look like your sister, but you have your brother's facial expressions." 

"Uh, OK," and then I escaped out the door, my friends in tow.

* * * 

Laughter filled the little bedroom. I couldn't stop, and I wasn't the only one. We had been laughing at a story, but as I continued laughing I couldn't help notice our laughs.

I lay on the bottom bunk of a bunkbed in a little room. On the top bunk, and on the mattress set on the ground against the wall were my two companions. I was serving a mission for my church, and was living and working with two other women 24/7. Literally.

The Sister on the mattress on the floor turned to me. Despite the darkness I could tell. "Are you laughing for the same reason I am?" 

I nodded, still laughing, hearing the way our laughs had become almost indistinguishable. I had been working with her for about four months. 

"Your laugh is the same as mine."

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

This is just two examples of one of my quirks. I copy people, not on purpose, but I do. Thankfully, I am far more likely to do it with people that I like, and am around a lot. But if I don't like them I am far less likely to do it. This is very convenient because I have very little control over it. Sometimes, I make a facial expression,  and I am struck that it is not my own. Usually I can pinpoint who's it is. A roommate, a friend, a sibling. "I just stole your face." I tell them. And then I have to explain, and they always ask "Which one?" Disappointingly I can rarely tell them because my face may know how to do it, but I don't know how to explain it. It's really an odd sensation. Like the example above, I have done it with my laugh, but only that once (it makes me wonder who's laugh do I have?). But I also sometimes do it with phrases that another person uses, although I think that is fairly common, and once in a while a gesture. Because of this I think I am also more aware of other peoples facial expressions, and on occasion I have noticed other people do it, mostly when they are siblings.

One of my brothers called me Koh, the face stealer from Avatar (a monster who steals faces). I hope mine isn't quite as offensive.