So this little strange piece was inspired by a working title of a longer piece that I called “The Mirror”. If I had to label it, I would go with horror, and basically the idea that mirrors are just a little bit creepy at times.
This is what going crazy felt like, she thought. She had wondered, but now she knew for sure. The woman who stared back at her from the mirror wasn’t her.
Not like she didn’t recognize herself, because it looked like her. It just… Wasn’t. Most of the time when she moved, the woman moved. But when she turned from the mirror she could see the reflection in the mirror moving. Not the way she was moving, but leaning forward, as if to get a better look at her.
When she turned back, the other woman snapped into position as her reflection. The other woman also wouldn’t do anything strange when there was a witness. She alone knew the truth. There was a stranger in her mirror.
This one was the only one where the woman was, she tried others. She tried covering it, and considered getting rid of it. She had even considered seeing a shrink, just in case.
This was crazy, she thought. This ends tonight. She walked up to the mirror shoulders set, jaw squared and stared the other woman down. Eventually, the woman flinched. Realizing she had been caught, the other woman gave up the ruse. With a sheepish expression the woman held up a hand to the mirror’s surface.
She held up her own hand and pressed it up against the mirror, relief flooding her, and then…
The woman smirked into the mirror as her reflection looked outward in terror. She was free at last.
Anne McSommers' Writing Nook 