Forever

The girl in the mirror

I didn't get scared. Not right away of course. I was still trying to process everything. But once I finally stood there and contemplated it, heck yeah I got scared. I tried rubbing the fingerprint again just to be sure. It was definitely on the other side. Or maybe it was just a smudge that wouldn't come off. Yeah that had to be it. After all, I'm not living in a science fiction book.

I grabbed the cloth and got ready to drape it over the mirror, when suddenly another persons image appeared next to me. I turn around and saw no one there. I looked back at the mirror as quickly as possible. And there she is. She's just standing there smiling as if it's completely normal to be standing in my room without ever meeting me before. I turn around to look behind me to make sure that I hadn't just missed her. She HAD to be standing there. But once again no one was there. I looked back at her and just stood there, frozen. She just stood there smiling and smiling like it was the best day of her life. That's when I came back to my senses.

I screamed as loudly as I could. I didn't care if the whole world heard me. In fact I wanted them to hear me. My mom came running up the stairs. "What happened?!" She asked in a frantic voice. I turned to the mirror to point out the girl, but she wasn't there anymore. Had I imagined it? I didn't think so. "I'm sorry mom, I just... I just got scared when..." I didn't finish my sentence as large sobs consumed my every breath. Mom stooped down and gave me a hug.

I was facing towards the mirror and she was facing away from it. I looked up to see the same girl peering from around the corner of the mirror, only half of her body showing. She looked genuinely concerned for me. I noticed for the first time that she was about my age with black hair and brown eyes so dark they almost looked black too. I was going to scream again, but held it back as I realized that she looked just as scared as I was. But she didn't have anyone to comfort her.

"Thanks mom." I say and break away from the hug. "I feel a lot better now." "Are you sure?" She asks. "You can come help us unpack downstairs for awhile if you're too scared to be up here by yourself." "Nah I'm good." I reply. "I just got irrationally scared. I'm okay now." She looks at me skeptically, and then leaves.

I turn back to the mirror. Nothing. All I see is my own reflection once again. I walk closer to inspect it. Now there are more fingerprints on the sides where the girl had been looking at me from when I was hugging my mom. She had been holding onto the edge. I looked at the fingerprint that I had seen the first time. It matches perfectly to the index finger of the one that was on the side of the mirror.

I get the cloth again and place it back in its original position on the mirror. No more freaky girls staring at me while we're living in this house. I start to unpack.

About an hour later, a sweet melodic voice drifts out from the mirror. "Nooolaaannn." I glance at it, but of course I can't see anything as it is covered by the cloth. "Nolan don't be scared. I'm not gonna hurt you. Just take the cloth off the mirror." I find myself wanting to remove the cloth more than anything. But I restrain myself. I don't want to let anyone tell me what to do. I guess that it was a new stubborn streak because I was forced into so many things lately. "Noolaaann. Oh come on just take the cloth off. Both of us know that you really really want to. Don't worry. Nothing bad is going to happen. I would never do that. To you or to anyone." I find myself walking closer and closer to the mirror. My hand reaches up to pull down the cloth. This time I don't hesitate at all as I yank it away and throw it on the ground.