Good People with Bad Lives

Mirror Mirror

It's usually somewhere around -1° C, just below freezing point, so I go to tell my mother that I want to take a bath because I'm called and tired. It was a long day, especially at school, I get too exhausted even when I'm not doing anything that has to do with class work, but someone kept telling me that they were lost but I never got to asking them about it. I end up home like if I just ran a 10k marathon. When I get in the bath, it's very steamy and warm. My feet start to feel numb from how quick my feet went from cold to hot. I start to hear and remember the crystal shards of glass like if I just created a sculpture from them. They're aren't different colors, they're mostly all red or as if red was splashed on them. I start feeling sharp pains like if my hands were icicles and I just dropped them. I figure I had enough of the warm water so I start to clean myself. I get my shampoo and the only thing I see when I pour it out is a clear liquid, like if it was the consistency of gel but not entirely the same color as water. I smell it and it smells like alcohol or a hospital. I figure it might be a different new shampoo so I apply it. After washing myself, I get up and put on a towel. It's still cold but with all the steam it felt like a sauna. When I looked at the mirror all I saw was myself. That wasn't all I saw, I also saw that I had different-similar features. The mark on the left side of my face is on the right side of the mirror when I'm staring at it. The mole on my right shoulder is on the left side of the mirror. The birthmark on my left wrist is on right side of the mirror. Blood starts dripping from my forehead of my reflection. I realize it isn't a reflection, it is a mirror, it's not me in the reflection. The only thing closest to me is my brother. My brother was the closest thing to me. Right then, I touch the reflection and clean off the blood with my fingers. It's on my fingers. "it's on my fingers...". Why is there blood on my fingers? I ask him if he's okay and he replies with, "I'm okay, the thing I'm worried about is getting home. I might be lost.". I start to have a conversation with him and I learn that he's been trying to find his way home for 8 months. "I remember what happened eight months ago.", I think. I'm already dry and the conversation is still going. I get dressed in a thermal shirt and sweats. He's still talking, standing there in his towel. I ask him, "where are you from?", he answers simply, "Here.". After that my mom knocks on the door and to stop talking to Jake. I say bye to Jake. He says, "I'll see you again if I get lost."