Mirror, Mirror

An original piece of short fiction

Mirror, Mirror.

I turn around and find myself trapped in the center with nowhere to hide. There is nothing to do but face it. But when I look, I see only shadows and the blink of two eyes watching. Stone walls melt into mirrors; now there isn’t just us, but thousands. And through the dark I hear a voice that echoes my own, the words from that place I try to hopelessly ignore:

You cannot escape. I run away, afraid of what could happen. I can feel it behind me, it’s eyes watching me, the shadow following me. It is the very walls I hold. Reflections become stone. I round a corner and the pathway ends. 

The walls begin to shift and change; creating new paths within the circle that extends around me. I lose hold of the wall that leads me out. I want to get home. I can’t remember how I got here. I run away towards blocked paths and back. But the shadow grows behind me, and the light’s fading in front of me. A voice; my own:

You’ll never get out. I know the truth without being told but I try nonetheless. And it mocks me, that voice laughing at my efforts. Calling me deeper inside as I try to escape it. But even then I hear the shadow beneath. I keep my hand against the wall that switches between mirror and stone. I don’t want to be lost inside, without a way out, without a way home.

You know it’s true. The walls tower over me and the path curves into the distance, hiding where it leads, calling me to follow. My shadow. My doubt. I pursue through the dark. I stand at the beginning, staring out at the labyrinth of stone in front of me, wondering why I would ever want to go inside at all.

Reflections become stone. The cold air chills me from a breeze that doesn’t exist until the mirrors capture me with a glimpse of my infinite reflection. I don’t want to go back. I know what it holds. It both consumes me and alludes me. I am surrounded and alone through a boundless performance of my own resistance. And it waits for me, without escape. It follows me without permission. It becomes me and leaves me and consumes me once more.

I stand at the beginning, staring out at the labyrinth of stone in front of me, wondering why I would ever want to go inside at all. I pursue through the dark. My doubt. My shadow. The walls tower over me and the path curves into the distance, hiding where it leads, calling me to follow. You know it’s true.

I don’t want to be lost inside, without a way out, without a way home. I keep my hand against the wall that switches between mirror and stone. But even then I hear the shadow beneath. Calling me deeper inside as I try to escape it. And it mocks me, that voice laughing at my efforts. I know the truth without being told but I try nonetheless. You’ll never get out.

A voice; my own. But the shadow grows behind me, and the light’s fading in front of me. I run away towards blocked paths and back. I can’t remember how I got here. I want to get home. I lose hold of the wall that leads me out. The walls begin to shift and change; creating new paths within the circle that extends around me. 

I round a corner and the pathway ends. Reflections become stone. It is the very walls I hold. I can feel it behind me, it’s eyes watching me, the shadow following me. I run away, afraid of what could happen. You cannot escape. 

And through the dark I hear a voice that echoes my own, the words from that place I try to hopelessly ignore. Stone walls melt into mirrors; now there isn’t just us, but thousands. But when I look, I see only shadows and the blink of two eyes watching. There is nothing to do but face it. I turn around and find myself trapped in the center with nowhere to hide.

Mirror, Mirror is an original piece of short fiction from Verse. It was recently featured in

Top In Fiction

, which highlights the best fiction published here on Substack each week.

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