Forever

The fingerprint

I never wanted to live here forever. But she changed everything... My name is Nolan Walker. It started just a few weeks ago. My parents told me we were moving, and naturally being a 12 year old boy, I didn't want to leave my friends, house, or memories behind. But no matter how much I screamed, protested, or sobbed, they wouldn't give in. I resented the very existence of my parents for doing this to me.

As I took my first step inside the house, I knew I was going to hate it. It was old and creepy. Almost as if someone had made an effort to make the antique looking furniture more dusty, the garden overgrown, and the stairs more creaky. I especially thought about that last one as I ascended the stairs to my new bedroom. It was absolutely nothing like I had imagined. There was already a bed in there, with sheets that looked like they'd never been washed. The window hung slightly open on broken hinges and a slow steady whistling noise hummed as wind blew in the gap. I tired not to shudder as I pictured sleeping in this room.

And then I saw it for the first time... The mirror sitting in the corner of the room.

Being the curious 12 year old I was, I walked over to it. I yanked off the cloth to reveal a oval mirror propped up by a stand. But something was off about it. I furrowed my eyebrows as I realized that it was shiny and new looking. How was that possible? It didn't look like anyone had been in this house for a million years. The outer rim looked freshly polished and I could see my own perplexed face staring back at me in the glass.

And then I realized something. It wasn't entirely clean. There was a single fingerprint smudged on the glass. I grabbed the bottom of my shirt and brought it up to the mirror in an effort to rub it off. I rubbed and rubbed, but no matter what it wouldn't come off. Then I realized with a chill, that it was on the other side of the mirror...