Lights Out

The Mirror

She was back.

As a kid, I had hated mirrors. Seeing myself reflected back at me creeped me out in a way I could never explain. But when I turned seven, I found out why I hated it so much. A woman appeared in the mirror behind me. At first I thought it was my mom, she looked almost the same, but it would happen when my parents were asleep or gone. I tried to ignore her but she would step closer and closer until it was hard to not see her.

I told my parents about her, about the Lady in the Mirror, but they thought it was an imaginary friend. I was seven after all, I can't fault them for that. And I can't fault them for thinking it would go away on its own; I had hoped for the same thing. Soon, I was seeing her in every reflective surface I ever stood by no matter where I was or who I was with. My mom finally believed me when she took a photo of me on my thirteenth birthday and the Lady was leaning over my shoulder.

When I was fifteen, I was taken to my third psychologist. Mom understood it was probably paranormal, but she also hoped it wasn't and thought I could learn coping techniques to get rid of it. By that time I was putting sheets and blankets over every mirror I encountered. My dad took down the one on my dresser altogether because I smashed it with my shoe when the Lady wouldn't leave me alone. I felt so alone and helpless and small. She probably wanted me to feel that way.

When I was nineteen and moving into my college dorm, I accidentally forgot to bring a pillowcase to cover the mirror in the bathroom but it hadn't mattered. She wasn't behind me. I wanted to be overjoyed but I thought it was a trap. I was hesitant around mirrors for a whole month before I started to feel normal again. I began to have a life and I stopped covering mirrors.

My husband and I married shortly after my twentieth birthday, and our daughter was born a year later. We have a house, a big yard, a dog, a gorgeous and fierce five year old and I'm pregnant with our son. I had forgotten what it felt like to be scared of something no one else could see. I finally realized I could have a normal life and things could be okay.

But she came back, just as I remembered her. But she was over the shoulder of my daughter while she brushed her teeth, a hand physically on her shoulder. My baby saw me and smiled, saying, "What's wrong, Mommy? Can you see my new friend?"

The Lady in the Mirror smiled.