Mirror Image

She sits with her back to the door. Tears running down her pale face, leaving her skin red and blotchy. Eyes sore from crying, heart racing in fear, she stays huddled in a ball, her sobs growing louder and louder. Behind the door, in the hallway, she can hear footsteps getting closer and closer.

Between sobs she screams, "Leave me alone!".

The door behind her shakes, thumping loudly against the back of her head. Deafening. Still huddled she continues sobbing, drowning out the knocking.

Again she screams, through the door. " Leave me alone! Get away from me!"

The banging on the door continues, then without warning silence. Listening intently, she hears nothing. Quickly she moves to her hands and knees, putting her ear to the floor, to peer beneath the crack under the door. Nothing. No sounds, no shadows, just emptiness. Silently she gets to her feet, putting a shaky hand on the knob of the door. Slowly turning the knob, she peers through the crack, moving forward attentively and carefully.

Stepping into the hall way, she practically whispers, " Hello?". Silence. Following the hallway to the kitchen, she looks around, nothing. Nothing out of place, nothing strewn about, everything normal. Slowly she looks toward the door, locked. Confused, she turns away walking toward the couch. Getting settled, she questions what happened. She knows what she heard. What she saw. There was no doubt that this girl had been in her house . . . but how?

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In the morning she woke to birds chirping and the sun shining brightly through the window. Last night seemed like a bad dream. Like a scene from a horror movie that played on and on. Trying to ignore the uneasiness, she gets ready to face the day. As she heads out the door a sense of panic washes over. Outside she looks around. She's all alone, with nothing but the chirps of birds and a distant breeze to keep her company. Walking down the street, she feels a sense of uneasiness, the terrifying feeling that someone is watching her. Looking around she sees a familiar face across the street. A gaunt, pale girl, with long brittle hair... it was the girl that had been her house!

She screams, "What do you want?"

Silence. The blonde doesn't answer, she just stares.

Again she yells, " What do you want? Why are you following me?"

Still no reply. At that she moves quickly down the street. Asking herself why? Why is she doing this? What does she want? Heading home, she can hear footsteps approaching behind her. She picks up pace, feet pounding the sidewalk. A burning sensation rising in her chest, as sprints up the stairs and into her apartment, slamming the door loudly behind her. As she enters her apartment, she hears a rustling coming from the bedroom. Instead of backing out, she moves forward, curious to see what the source of the noise is. As she enters the bedroom, she passes a mirror, seeing the same blonde girl.

Whipping herself around she shouts, " What the hell are you doing here?!"

Silence.

" Why won't you answer me?!"

Silence.

" What do you want?"

Silence. Both girls stand there staring at one another. She didn't know what else to do, or say. A few moments later, the little blonde, began moving closer and closer, until they were nose to nose. Not saying anything, just staring intently, with a look of sadness and longing.

She backs slowly away from the blonde, quietly whispering, "What do you want?"

Silence.

Tears begin to slide down her cheeks,

 "Why are you doing this to me?"

The blonde says nothing, but moves a thin, pointed figure toward the mirror.

She turns to look, seeing nothing but the image of herself. Confusion spread across her face. Looking intently at the mirror, searching for an answer, any answer that would explain what going on.

" I don't get it."  Again the blonde points towards the mirror, saying nothing.

She looks again. Still seeing nothing but her own image. She has to admit they look alike, her figure fuller, definitely not gaunt.

Stilling staring into the mirror, she says, "I still don't get it. Just tell me."

Silence.

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A loud knocking bellows from the entryway.

She walks to the door, leaving her blonde houseguest behind. Slowly moving to answer the door.

She calls through the door before opening it. "Hello?"

" It's mom. Open up!"

With a small sigh, she opens the door. Standing before her, her mother, pushes past the door and into the house. Her mother's face is filled with worry, dread and sadness. She stares at her mother intently and asks,

 " What's wrong?"

Staring at her, she breathes in, then answers. " Look at you. So small, so frail. Your wasting away..."

She didn't answer, she just continued to stare at her mother, whose eyes were red, as tears slowly began to fall down her cheeks. Hearing a noise coming from the bedroom she turned.

" Did you hear that?" she asked.

" Hear what?"

She looked back toward the bedroom, knowing the blonde girl sit stood within. Her mother looked at her in curiosity.

" I heard a noise." Without saying anything else she moved toward the sound. Once again she was standing face to face with the blonde.

"What do you want?"

Silence.

 She walked towards the mirror. Stared then looked back at the blonde then back at the mirror. The general resemblance was uncanny. Looking at her reflection, she began to cry, she hated what she saw. Her ugly face. Her fat body. She was worthless and stupid. She turned her head away from the mirror and began to stare at her feet. For the first time realizing and truly seeing how tiny she was. Her legs were like sticks. Lifting her head up she looked at her wrists. Small and boney. Embedded with scars.

She looked back up and the mirror, truly staring at her reflection, still not seeing the gauntness, the near death thinness that had taken over. 

"We're the same aren't we. You and I?"

Still no response. Turning her head to face the blonde girl, she felt a hand softly touch her shoulder. Her mother's hand rested gently, she pushed her away, yelling, "Where is she? Where's the little blonde girl?"

Her mother frowned a look of concern taking over her face. " There isn't anyone here just you and me."