The Man Who Never Existed

1. The Stranger in the Mirror

The first time Eric noticed something was wrong, he was brushing his teeth

His reflection blinked a second too late.

He froze, toothbrush clutched between his fingers. Maybe he was exhausted. Maybe he imagined it. But then—just as he turned away—the reflection smirked.

Eric whipped back to the mirror. His own face stared back, blank and ordinary.

The smirk was gone.

He took a step backward, a cold wave crawling up his spine. Did I see that?

He told himself it was nothing. A trick of the mind.

Until the second thing happened.

2. The Missing Pieces

At work, he glanced at his phone. Mom.

He hesitated, thumb hovering over the green button. He hadn’t called her in weeks.

"Hey, Mom," he said when she answered. "Sorry, work’s been crazy—"

Silence.

Then: "Who is this?"

Eric chuckled. "Very funny."

"I'm serious," she said. "I don’t have a son."

The call ended.

He stood frozen, the phone slipping from his fingers.

No. That wasn’t possible. That wasn’t possible.

He called back. The number was disconnected.

3. The Vanishing Life

Panic lodged in his throat. He opened his Contacts. No Mom. No Dad. No saved numbers at all.

He opened his photos. Every single picture was gone.

His apartment key suddenly didn't fit the lock.

His workplace ID didn't scan.

Even his birth certificate—when he sprinted to the courthouse—didn’t exist in the system.

The woman at the desk frowned at him. "Sir, are you feeling okay?"

"Just…just check again," he whispered.

She sighed but humored him. Tap, tap, tap on the keyboard.

Then she looked up with a smile too sharp to be real. "Sorry, sir. There’s no record of you ever being born."

4. The Truth He Wasn’t Supposed to Remember

Eric ran. He ran through the city as if outrunning erasure itself.

A homeless man on the street watched him, eyes gleaming with something dangerous and knowing.

Eric skidded to a stop. "Do you know me?"

The man grinned. "I remember you."

Eric's breath hitched. "Then tell me. Who am I?"

"You were never supposed to wake up."

Something deep and dark and ancient curled in the pit of Eric’s stomach.

The man leaned closer, breath hot and rancid.

"You slipped through the cracks. You saw the edges of the simulation."

Eric shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

The man just smiled.

And whispered:

"Go back to sleep, Eric."

5. The Reset

That night, Eric lay in bed, too afraid to close his eyes.

At 3:12 AM, he heard footsteps in his apartment.

Then, a voice—his own—whispered in the dark:

"You shouldn’t have fought it."

His body jerked up as unseen hands forced him down. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

In the mirror across the room, his reflection stood up from the bed.

It smiled.

"We fixed it."

And as darkness wrapped around Eric, as his memories drained like water through cupped hands—

Somewhere, another man woke up… never realizing he had replaced someone else.

The Message:

🔹 How real is your reality?

🔹 What if your existence could be erased in an instant?

🔹 What if someone else is living the life you were meant to have?