Like What You See

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn’t my own. Boy was it ever so scary. As I stared in this mirror my heart raced at a speed of what felt like a thousand miles an hour. My mind was racing with a million questions, the biggest one being why. I was looking in the mirror, but there was no reflection of self looking back at me. Instead, it was the face of a beautiful woman with black hair that went down to her shoulders. She was wearing a cardigan with black and white stripes that was covered in dirt.

The woman’s face was visibly bruised and she had a bloody wound on her forehead. She stared blank faced at me as if she was waiting for a response to a question which had not yet been asked. “Why so tremble, Raymond?” the woman asked me. Raymond stumbled on his words as he began to respond. “You…you’re dead.” Raymond replied in a choked up voice. “Of course I am.” the woman replied. “You’re the reason why I’m dead, Raymond. You put me here.” “No.” Raymond said while shaking his head in denial.

As he turned away from his bathroom mirror he started walking out of the bathroom and back into his bedroom. Before his foot hit the carpet he was stopped by a raging shake that reminded him of an earthquake. The shaking knocked him to the ground and knocked some his belongings that were sitting on top of his bedroom dresser to the room floor. As the violent shaking continued Raymond witnessed a slight crack develop across his bedroom window. He quickly picked himself up and backed himself into the bathroom. “Going somewhere?” the voice of the woman in his mirror uttered.

Raymond turned around to acknowledge the woman. As he stood face to face with her he slowly noticed that the violent quaking had stopped. When he turned around to look at his room he was surprised to find the mess that accompanied the quake had disappeared. Raymond was in a mental state of disbelief as he turned back to the woman’s face. “You’re not off the hook that fast, Raymond. I’m here because of you. I’m not leaving until you confront what you’ve done to me…and you’re not leaving either.” Raymond’s chest began to heat up and he felt his throat tighten as tears started engulfing his eyes. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to-” “BUT…YOU…DID.” The woman said while cutting him off sharply. “You were drunk driving and ran me off the road, Raymond, and now I’m dead…all because of you.”

“It was an accident.” Raymond cried. “I swear on my life. I never meant for anyone to get hurt. I turned my eyes away from the road for a split second and there you were.” “Marietta.” the woman said. “Marietta?” Raymond asked. “That’s my name.” the woman replied. “My name is Marietta McCoy. My mother’s name is Meredith. My father’s name is Franklin. My brother’s name is Fredrick. My husband’s name is Morris. My daughter’s name is Monica”- “STOP!!!” Raymond shouted in anguish. “His heart was riddled with guilt and anger as Marietta made note of her family. “Why are you telling me this?” he asked tearfully while looking away from the mirror. “Because you need to be mindful of the lives you effected when you ended mines.” Marietta said sharply.

“No.” Raymond started. “I don’t have to listen to this, I won’t.” As Raymond turned away from the mirror he attempted to leave the bathroom again, but was stopped by the scene of a storm that was pouring itself upon his bedroom. His ceiling was covered in storm clouds that were producing heavy rain on his tan carpet. He could see lightning emanating from above the clouds that were followed by a loud thunder clap. Raymond had always been afraid of thunderstorms and was frozen in fear at the site of the storm that had descended upon his room.

As Raymond stepped backwards into the bathroom he turned himself back around to face Marietta’s reflection. “Not so simple, dear boy.” Marietta exclaimed softly. Raymond turned back around to look at his room and saw that the scenery of the storm was gone. His room was once again normal. He then did a double take, looking back at Marietta and then again his room. “What is this?” Raymond asked in a confused tone. “This is the pain you will live with if you don’t own up to what you have done, Raymond.” Marietta replied. “But, I’m sorry.” Raymond started. “If you’re really sorry you’ll own up to what you’ve done and turn yourself in to the authorities.”

All Raymond could think about was how he did not want to go to prison. “I’m truly sorry for what I did to you, Marietta, but I refuse to go to prison…I JUST WONT DO IT!!!”. Once again Raymond turned around to exit the bathroom and was greeted by another fear inducing image in his bedroom. He was stopped in his tracks before he could take a step and before his eyes he saw a land of fire and brimstone. As far as his eyes could see there was a mountain of flames surrounded by individual pockets of fire. There was a lake of fire nearest to him with a red sky that hovered over this dreadful land and the sky was inhabited by red colored winged creatures that resembled dragons. This time Raymond did not have a reaction, just somber thoughts going through his mind. “This is hell.” He thought to himself. “This is the living hell I’ll create for myself if I don’t own up to what I did. This is what Marietta’s spirit has been showing me. My greatest fears are the greatest pains that I’ll be torturing myself with until I die if I don’t accept atonement for my sins. As much as I hate it, I now know what I have to do.”

Raymond turned back around to look at the mirror and expected to see the image of Marietta, but she was not there. He now only saw himself. When he turned back around to look in his room the fiery wasteland that was there before has disappeared, only his room was there. He slowly stepped on to the carpet and looked at the phone on his bed. For the first time since he caused Marietta’s death he felt peace in his mind and peace in his heart. He walked over to the phone, picked it up and dialed 9-1-1. The operator picked up on the first ring. “9-1-1 operator, what’s your emergency?”. “Hi, my name is Raymond Fisher and I’d like to make a confession…”