Refraction

The floorboards creaked as I ran straight into a coffee table, causing a vase to fall and shatter onto the smooth cedarwood floor. Disbalanced, I continued running while holding my hip, which was now bruised. Behind me, a familiar figure turns the corner and starts dashing towards me at the same speed, and soon starts catching up. I make it to the door and start shaking the door knob. Locked. With the creature on my tail, I took notice of the coat hanger to my side.
Praying I wouldn’t get splinters, I crawled through a newly created hole in the door and blocked the hole with a chair. Stumbling for a moment, I continued my dash as I heard the chair being violently thrown to the side. In front of me was an open window and a door to the right. I then had to make possibly the greatest decision of my life: Unlock the door and leave as any normal person would, or jump out the window.
“…well I don’t have any splinters, but I do now have glass in my arm. Oh well. It was faster anyways.”

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I leaned against the wall, though the marble tiling didn’t provide comfort. The broom fell to the ground, only to have that guy scold me.
“Pick it up.” I heard him say nearby.
“This store gets no customers. How are you still in business?”
“Remember I’m paying you to clean this place, not to ask questions.”
The man waved a few bills at me. And by a few bills, I mean a total sum of 1,000 dollars. Paper. Strange how some paper and ink can buy you a lot at a store.
“Yeah yeah, let me rest…” I
I started to doze off until the door chimed and a hazy figure walked in. Then again, it was probably because I was very tired. Any chance at napping was killed when the man’s voice reverberated through the humid air.
“Hello! Welcome to…”

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The last thing I expected on a casual walk around the block was an out-of-place storefront. The windows gave the appearance of stained glass but felt old as time. Above was the name of the store, with weathered letters and vines drooping down like fingers, playing peek-a-boo with the store name.
I pushed open the door, seeing two figures. One was a teen drifting in and out of reality. The broom carelessly abandoned beside him made me believe he was either the second person’s child or a helper. They had muddy red hair that curled around their ears and muted yellow eyes that hid behind eyelids. They wore a sweater with simple designs and pants that were a bit too loose.

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The second was an older man with a much darker hair color, though he had a vibrant red streak of dye running down the side. Stubble was sprinkled around his chin and a visible gash had healed on his cheek, leaving only an off-colored portion of skin. A bandage had been wrapped around his neck as if to hold it in place. His eyes were a sparkling brown, which pierced deep through me before he spoke.
“What are you browsing for today?” he inquired.
I took note of the fact that the store, despite housing many shelves, displayed no items.
“What do you even sell?” My curiosity implored.
“Many, many things!” he advertised, “Here, let me show you!”
The man dived into the backroom, as the teen sighed.
Scarcely any time passed before the man reemerged with a full-length body mirror. The frame was a golden wood trimmed with silver. The glass was a clear lake, without any smudges or cracks.
“All yours for…” he began, before pausing.
“$12.00,” the kid continued.
Only twelve dollars? Wasn’t that extremely cheap for a simple mirror? And that isn’t even acknowledging the gold and silver on the frame. But since it was going for so low, I decided to purchase it, because a sale is a sale.
“Enjoy!”

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Fire is very useful, especially for burning the letters of your now ex-boyfriend. Though my apartment is small, I figured out how to not set off the alarms. Pretty handy for when you mess up cooking for the ninth time. Looking into the mirror, I thought to myself if it was a mandatory purchase.
“You probably won’t leave me, right?”
My voice echoed throughout the room. I fully expected the mirror to crack cartoonishly, or at least something. The fire crackled as my question fizzled out the window and under the door and into the walls. I expected him to call. I expected to buy something useful. I expected someone to like me.
What I didn’t expect was a familiar voice to come from the glass.
“I won’t, I promise!”

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It had been 12 minutes. 13. 14. No one had entered for a while, except that one girl. There were two people in the store. Two became one as the younger entered the back. One became zero as the older one came right behind him. No one was in the store. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick…

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Hitting my mirror wasn’t something I expected to do today. Neither was the fact that a second me was currently inside the mirror and pouting. I never knew I looked like that when I was angry.
“What was that for?” My reflection snapped.
“It was just instincts! I didn’t expect my mirror to come alive!” I reasoned. I wasn’t sure if this was normal or if the other mirrors were like this, but it wasn’t normal. Nothing about this was normal. This shouldn’t be-
“What’s your name?” the person on the other side spoke up. I felt that it was strange my reflection of all people was asking me about that, but whatever. I told them my name, not thinking much. Maybe they were new, though that made me start thinking of a reflection job system, which wasn’t a good idea.
“That’s a nice name… I guess that’s also my name since I’m kind of you!” they beamed.
The fire finally sizzled out, leaving only charred paper and trapped smoke. I sigh as I grab the remains and toss them into the trash and waft the dragon breath out the window.
“I guess we have a lot to talk about,” I began, turning to my new friend.

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Who knew you could learn a lot from yourself? She explained the entire premise of being a reflection, which is basically to copy the person you’re assigned to. Their world is the same as mine, except with a mirror hierarchy. They were pretty content with their situation, which is strange since most people would like to not be a slave to a system. Then again, what would I know? It might be way more entertaining than what they described.
Another sleepless night. The third cup of coffee didn’t help either. My reflection on the other hand was much more lively. Either sleep was but a concept or beds are marshmallows in there. After slurring every word that came out of my mouth, she decided to teach me how to make a stronger blend.
I burned myself. That’s what I get for taking directions from a mirror person. Could’ve sworn I heard them suppressing a chuckle.

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Today was day three of just ranting about life. My family is in disarray, I have no relationship anymore, and I’m barely functioning at my job. Somehow my reflection also doubles as a therapist. I was very close to hugging the mirror, so I think I have another problem.
Two more days. Everything is set up and in colorful, twinkling lights. She shares my same love for Christmas.

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One man came out from the backroom, scarred and bloodied. Whether he fought a bear or a cat was debatable, but he seemed content. One came out, and only one was left by the end of the day.
He pressed a button, sending millions of radio waves into motion, waves in an ocean of sound and light. All who saw would be curious. More customers, more money.
Tick tock. Tick tock.
The tv was a wonderful distraction from life, with waves of sound and light swirling around me. It was strange that a mirror was propped beside me, but it was a question for another day.
After the 9th commercial, I turned to see what my reflection was doing. After not seeing any identical twin of mine, I got up to check the other mirrors in my house. Not in the bathroom or the kitchen or my phone or the window. Didn’t go anywhere as far as I knew. Perhaps they went to take a break. Yeah, that’s what.
“…just call 903-853-1840 to claim your…”
The pitter-patter of clear crystals tapped on my window. The fridge held no treasures, so back to the couch I went.
“…it is highly absorbent and…”
Maybe there was life inside the tv? I didn’t want to flip through channels and ask every cartoon and actor if they were being held hostage inside a flat grey box, but it was worth a shot.
“If you are listening, we are issuing a product recall for strange or enchanted items sold at…”
I watched intently as the screen flashed different items, from gems to rings to paint to strange gadgets to prosthetics, and couldn’t help but notice the name sounded strangely familiar. That was until it displayed a large, rectangular mirror outlined in silver and gold. A mirror that was eerily similar to the one sat next to…
I don’t think I ran that fast since high school, but an arm shooting out of solid glass and grabbing my shirt collar would do the trick. Bolting out the door, I hear an ominous cackle as my doppelganger crashed into the opposing wall and started to chase me. I started climbing down the stairs, but she was faster.
“What’s happening? What are you doing? How is this possible?” I screamed, trying to make sense of the situation.
“Your secrets allowed me to escape,” said my reflection.
“Wait really?” I sputtered, still deescalating flights of stairs.
“No silly. Well, kinda. You gave me all your information, so I can now go and replace you!” they announced.
Not knowing what to do with that information, I threw open the first door I saw and stumbled into what I assumed to be the owner of the apartment’s room or something. The wood was polished and gleamed, while a chandelier hung above a neatly decorated dining table. I wasn’t one for taking things in, so I charged through the next door and into a coffee table.
“You can’t hide…”

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The asphalt bore light tire treads as a person bolted down the sidewalk, her hair flailing in the wind as blood dripped from her arm, a cactus of glass and agony. Behind her was who many would believe to be her twin, except extremely aggressive and catching up to the first. Making her way to the store where this story started, she gripped the doorknob and yanked, yielding no results. A sign displaying “CLOSED” swung lazily on the other side. Out of time, her reflection attacked, grasping her head and bashing it against the door, causing her to immediately collapse. Not dead, just out for the moment. Looking up, she waved before hoisting the rucksack of a body up onto her shoulders and returning to the apartment. I picked at a plaster as I got up to start rounds.
I awoke with a start as my legs felt numb as if replaced with television static. My arms were filled with anesthesia and my head with fluff. My eyes were heavy and weighed more than the rest of my body, which began to move in ways it shouldn’t, like a ragdoll. Forcing my eyes open, I looked at myself, who giggled and waved at me. I waved back.
Wait… what?
My friend, my twin, my reflection spoke, explaining that she was going to take my place for me. Fix my broken relationships for me. Mend my sorry life for me. All the while, I take her place, a reflection of herself. I couldn’t muster a breath as my lips were glued shut, my voice replaced with an echo. She stood up, causing my own body to rise. (I was sitting?) As she started to walk, I finally saw the border of the frame, laced with gold and silver. Beyond the sparkling frame was nothing. And as my doppelganger went out of view, I fell.
Deeper and deeper.
Until she passed by a window or mirror, which I reappeared for her to look into. And after, she walked off.
And so did I.