Short Stories

Mirror World Chap.1

Pitter patter. Pitter patter.

The sound of rain against the windowpane sounded as if the glass was a drum and an imaginary forcefield were holding the drumsticks and softly beating the rhythm through the surface. Outside the sky was a soft greyish-blue hue, with dark rainclouds above; the sidewalks and road were drenched with water and a passerby ran to shelter with a bright yellow umbrella and a matching jacket, splashing water around as they moved and shrieking.

Nomi pushed back a lock of raven hair and sighed, working on a fanart of a show she had been recently watching. There wasn't much to do anyways; weekends were usually spent at home; there wasn't much to do anyway, with lockdown being in place, no one could really go anywhere. And she supposed; where would she go, if quarantine was over? There wasn't really a place she had in mind that she desperately wanted to go visit.

"Nomi!" 

The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes as she down her pen.

"What do you want mum?!!"

"Run some errands for me, will you dear? We've run out of stuff and the stores just around the corner."

"Arghhhh... fine."

Nomi sighed, annoyed at being disrupted during a drawing session. Oh well. That was that. 

She dragged herself downstairs and then realised that she probably looked like an absolute mess. Her hair was unbrushed, she still had on an old baggy shirt that looked like it would fit her father, and tracksuit pants that she had gotten when she was 10. This wouldn't do at all. Surely running to the supermarket deserved a better outfit; she just couldn't do Woolies like that.. it wouldn't be fair at all.

Slowly, she made her way back up the stairs once more, slamming her door behind her when she entered the room. She checked the mirror. Ah, yes. The classic hobo chic look, except without the chic. Nomi flung open her closet and scanned it, looking for a barely presentable outfit that required minimal effort to style. She was too tired for this kind of crap. Why did choosing clothing take up so much brain energy? She swore that when she was old enough to move out, she would hire her own stylist so that she looked swag 100% of the time.

swag 100

As she held up a black shirt to the mirror, Nomi swore she caught a dark-haired boy do the same. What the heck? Where had her reflection gone? But just as quickly as she had seen it, the boy vanished with a smirk plastered across his face. The raven-haired girl swore she hadn't taken drugs today, but sometimes she had a suspicion that perhaps the things her mother feed her really are drugged and don't just look sus. 

She decided to let it go, and held up the next outfit in front of her. Again, the same thing happened.

"HEY! WHAT THE HECK?!! AM I HIGH OR AM I HIGH???!?!?!" Nomi shrieked, pointing at the mirror.

Down the hallway, her brother wasn't very happy with the noise. 

"Shut up! I'm trying to sleep, dumbass!"

She swore she heard the boy in the mirror laugh. Nomi smacked the mirror with her free hand and scowled.

"Its not funny, man!"

"Owww! That's male abuse!!"

The boy rubbed his arm, still smiling. Nomi blinked twice, three times, but he was still there. 

"Tell me boy, what drugs did I take today? Why am I talking to you? Your probably not even real!!"

The mystery guy reached out and tugged on Nomi's hand, causing her to scream. He let go and burst out laughing.

"See? I am real. Why won't you believe me? Why do you think I'm only an illusion?"

But there was no one to reply to him, for Nomi had fainted on the ground. She was passed out. The boy knew that when she woke up, she would most likely dismiss it as something of her imagination. She would not remember him and would never acknowledge his existence. He would be just as real as a character in the storybooks she wrote. He sighed and retreated back into his own world. Should he bother trying again? 

She was the original one, after all. He was barely real, at least to her.