The Mirror

It had to be 3 o’clock in the morning or maybe more towards 4. My mind was still partially in the realm of sleep, and while my tired mind didn’t really care what time it was, part of me hoped the former.

I washed my hands over the bathroom sink. I attempted to maintain a sense of calm so that I could easily slip back to sleep as soon as I crawled back into bed. I never bothered turning the ceiling light on. Being absolutely blinded by the sudden flood of bright light, my eyes would have cursed me out tremendously for it. Only a small dim night was my source of light. It was just enough light to see and nothing more.

I mindlessly washed my hands when I caught a glimpse of movement in front of me. I ignored it as anyone would do. It was only my reflection in the mirror. I turned off the faucet and was just about to leave when I caught another glimpse of movement in the mirror. I stopped cold. The movement I saw was brief and subtle but I noticed it right away because the movement I saw in the mirror did not match any movement I made.

I had to be imagining things. It had to be my sleep-hungry mind deluding me.

Somewhere between a dare and a demand, something told me to look in the mirror. My tired mind couldn’t decide which. For once I was too scared to look in the mirror and I couldn’t explain why. The fear was stupid, really. It was only my reflection. I attempted to brush off the urge to look but it only grew stronger. I jerked my attention to the mirror slowly.

In that dark bathroom, my only light source being a dimly lit nightlight, I expected to see what I always see. Me. Perhaps, not my greatest looking but still me.

What I saw was not me. Sure the person in the mirror resembled me in appearance, but it was definitely not me! I froze as I stared face to face at my reflection.

Or was it?

With the very limited light that I had, at first I was only able see the outline of the person in the mirror. And then they caught eye contact with me, latching on with their hypnotic stare. Their eyes were soulless. Like a deep, dark, bottomless pit.

They said not a word. They didn’t need to. Their stare said everything words couldn’t. They gave off the most threatening intentions. I wanted to look away from that reflection in the mirror. A reflection that was surely not mine! I wanted to run out of that bathroom, but I was paralyzed either by fear or by that deep soulless hypnotic stare, or very well likely both.

It felt like an eternity until I was able to break free. I hurried out of the bathroom and dared not glance back.

The next morning, I went about my daily morning routine. I had almost forgotten about the chilling incident from that very early morning until I looked in the mirror.

I glanced at myself in the bathroom mirror. I looked just as I’ve always looked. I waved a hand in front of the mirror. I even flexed a muscle. I smiled. My reflection matched my actions as it was expected to. Both to my relief and confusion, everything was normal. There was no one in that mirror with a dark and hypnotic stare.

I stared at my reflection for the longest time thinking one question before leaving.

What did I see last night?