The Other Side of the Mirror.

 

 

“I see him in the mirror every day.”

“Who do you see in the mirror?”

“Him, he is always looking at me.”

“Do you know who he is?”

“No.”

“Michael tells me that you broke the mirror in your room.”

“I couldn’t stand him looking at me.”

“Why is he looking at you?”

“What?”

“I said, ‘Why is he looking at you’.”

“I don’t know. He just keeps looking at me. I keep asking you to look in the mirror to see him, but you don’t believe me.”

“I don’t see anything but my reflection when I look in the mirror.”

“You don’t see what I see.”

“What do you see?”

“A man with shaggy brown hair, piercing green and blue eyes, you know, he has two colors. He has a mole on his left chin and is kind of looking scruffy, but every time I see him he has sad eyes. I can’t stand those eyes.”

“Why can’t you stand them?”

“They are heavy and say a lot. Like he wants me to do something that I can’t do.”

“What is it he wants you to do?”

“I just, no, he…”

“It’s okay. We don’t have to talk about it.”

“He talks to me too.”

“He…this is new. Why haven’t you told me about this before?”

“I…don’t know…the other guy wouldn’t believe me, but you…”

“I’m willing to listen, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry about the last person. If you want me to believe you then I will.”

“Do you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“…”

“Can you tell me what he says to you?”

“He told me about his life.”

“What about his life?”

“Oh everything, that he had a great life. Did you know he had a brother?”

“I did hear something about that. What does he say about his brother?”

“He and his brother grew up in small house in Maryland. Every summer they would go to a town in Oklahoma to visit their grandparents. Their grandfather died of cancer when they both were young so they didn’t get a chance to know him. I mean, he showed me a picture of him holding them as babies. Ha, the picture showed him as a baby being held by this grey haired man with thick glasses and cheeks rosier than Santa Clauses. I smiled when I saw this picture. The baby was reaching into his front pocket where he held these cigars and the hands were so tiny compared to the cigar.”

“Continue.”

“They would go out on this big farm that their grandmother now took care of by herself. He told me she was such a kind lady. Always offering to cook some food for them and letting them ride horses. One day, his brother fell off of the horse far away from the farm. He said he was so scared because he wouldn’t wake up. He ran all the way back as fast as he could to get help. Later at the hospital he promised him that he would never let anything bad happen to his brother again, but when he said this his eyes got really sad again.”

“Why do you think that happened?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did he say anything else to you?”

“Yeah, they both eventually grew up and married. He said he had such a great family. He has two little girls six and eight that he really wants to see, but says that he can no longer do it.”

“Do you know why that is?”

“I have no idea. I tried asking him, but he wouldn’t tell me anything. He just stared at me with those sad eyes. I could see right in the mirror, behind him, a family waiting for him to come home, but he wouldn’t look at them. He just stared at me with those heavy eyes.”

“Do you think he wants to get back home?”

“Sure, I would love to have a family like that to be honest, but I don’t know what he wants from me. What he wants me to do.”

“What do you think he wants from you?”

“I don’t know, but I just want a bit a peace and quiet without being looked at from the man in the mirror.”

“How are you going to get peace?”

“I can have peace when I can look in a mirror and see my own face. It’s been so long since I have seen my own face. If only…”

“What? If only what?”

“…”

“Please, tell me.”

“He…I wish I didn’t hear this, but he whispers from the mirror every night. Always talking about why he is stuck in that mirror.”

“Why is he stuck in the mirror?”

“His brother…was…sick.”

“I’m sorry, what happened to him?”

“Cancer, I think. He would go to the doctor all the time with his brother even though he told him not to. Every treatment he said that he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him. He said that he screamed at doctors when they said nothing more could be done.”

“Did…did he die?”

“Yes…he did.”

“How did he die?”

“The cancer killed him and there was nothing he could do about it. He said he couldn’t protect him.”

“Is that why he is now stuck in the mirror?”

“Yes.”

“I see. Well, thank you for…”

“Wait…no.”

“Excuse me.”

“I…just assumed so, but…that’s not what happened…not what he told me.”

“What? What did he tell you?”

“It was January. The wind whipped the snow on the ground back into the air. He walked through the sliding door of the hospital. It seemed really quiet that night. I remember this because…I think I was actually there.”

“You were there? Are you sure about this?”

“Yes, it was a while ago, but I remember that I saw his face before. I’m not sure why I was at the hospital, but he said I was there. That’s why he followed me.”

“In the mirror?”

“Yes. He walked down the hall all the way to his brother’s room. A terrible machine was all around a dashing man who was puffy and had no hair. They had a conversation. He said that his kids loved the gifts from his brother. The brother just lied there and listened. He finally spoke to him…”

“What did he say?”

“I don’t…”

“No, you know, you said you were there in the hospital too. You know what he said.”

“I don’t…”

“Tell me what he said.”

“He…I…”

“It’s okay.”

“The brother…said…that it was too much now. Everything was painful and that this was just delaying the inevitable. He didn’t want to be a burden on his family anymore and seeing their painful faces every time they looked at him. When his kids hugged him it tore him apart. He asked me…”

“You?”

“I mean…what…”

“Don’t stop, you know what he asked you. “

“I wasn’t in the room…”

“Yes you were. You were right there. Sitting next to your brother and he asked you to do something.”

“I don’t…”

“The cancer was too much for him. He asked you to do something you didn’t want to do.”

“No…no…”

“He asked you to end it for him.”

“No I didn’t…”

“Do you even know where you are right now?”

“I…what are you talking about?”

“How did you get here?”

“I…NO STOP IT!”

“You have a family! You can’t stop now! You have to come to terms that you killed your brother because he asked you too. You need to accept this so you can get better. So you can go home and see your kids.”

“I DON’T HAVE ANY CHILDREN!”

“You do…you do. They miss their father. They want nothing more than for him to get better and for him to come home.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No…no he was suffering. He asked you to do it.”

“He…I…”

“And you smothered him with a pillow.”

“No…no…I…did…didn’t I? He said that I would always take care of him…he was my brother…my twin. He was me. I didn’t want to do it, but he begged me to do…begged me…”

“It’s okay, shhh, it’s okay.”

“I cried and held onto him for the longest time after he passed…I guess like I am now…was that me?”

“No, don’t slip now! This is the most progress you have ever made. Stay with me!”

“But…I killed my brother…he was me…”

“Are you ready to get better now?”

“I…think I am…”

“Do you want to see your family?”

“I…I do…”

“Can you do me a favor then?”

“What is it?”

“Can you look in this mirror and tell me what you see?”

Author's Note

I wrote this with every bit of emotion that I could hold and kept writing.

Reviews

[Weaver]

"Him, he is always" - period, not comma, after "Him"
"He talks to me too" - comma after "me"
"He…this is new" - "This"
"the other guy wouldn’t" - "The"
comma after "to believe you"
"Oh everything" - comma after "Oh"
comma after "they both were young"
"rosier than Santa Clauses" - "Claus'" (or "Claus's")
comma after "held these cigars"
comma after "Later" and after "at the hospital"
commas before and after "six and eight"
period, not comma, after "Sure"
comma after "family like that"
comma after "Every treatment"
comma after "cancer killed him"
"just lied there" - "just lay there"
comma after "kids hugged him"
"Yes you were" - comma after "Yes"
comma after "next to your brother"
"No I didn’t"- comma after "No"
"what are you talking about" - "What"
"he asked you too" - "to"
"You do…you do" - "You do... You do"
"no he was suffering" - "No, he was suffering"
"he was my brother" - "He"
"was that me" - "Was"
"he was me" - "He"

Well, I can't say I enjoyed reading this (take a look at my profile - it explains), but I do think you wrote this with a lot of emotion. Writing a story that is all dialogue and still has a plot isn't easy, but you have done a good job of showing through that dialogue what is happening with the character.