Mirrorland
By Kirstie Riley
Text copyright © 2015 Kirstie D Riley
All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Perspectives
Chapter 2: Similarities
Chapter 3: Differences
Chapter: 4. Silence
Chapter: 5. Reflection
Chapter: 6. Lighting
Chapter 7: Of Stained Glass...
Epilogue: ...and Shattered Mirrors
Chapter 1: Perspectives
When you look through a mirror, what do you really see? Is it just an image? Just a reflection? Or could there be something more?
What if the person staring back from inside the mirror is you but at the same time isn’t completely the same? A you in an alternate reality where life happened just that little bit differently? Not enough to really notice. A small shift here and there. Things you wouldn’t expect to change the future.
How altered could the world be?
How altered could you be?
A young girl smiled at herself in the full length mirror as she got ready for work, her face and mind optimistic for the day ahead. A soft hum permeated the air as she worked, her half asleep brain working quietly away at the thoughts of the day, wondering who she might meet or what she might do. As small town and ordinary as her life was she had yet to say she was really unhappy with it. In her eyes it was comfortable; working behind the register at the local convenience store was an easy was to get money into her pocket and she always had fun chatting to the customers, especially those she had gotten used to. Sure there were bad days, everyone had them, but it was always better to start the day as you meant to go on in her opinion.
She looked at her watch a few moments later, wincing slightly at the time with a muttered curse. It was her turn to open the shop today and it wouldn’t do to be late, not that anyone would know about it unless there was a complaint from a customer.
She checked around her room to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything she needed to take with her; counting through the items she had laid out ready for the day the night before, before disappearing from the mirror’s view of her small single bedroom.
She smiled as she took one last look around; convinced she hadn’t left anything behind before checking her watch again and hurrying out of the door without another glance.
When looking into a mirror, there can sometimes be the nagging need to smile. Maybe it’s just a conscious effort to get ready for the day ahead, especially if you know it’s going to be a particularly trying one. But what if that’s not the only reason? Why is it we smile as if we should be on best behaviour when staring at our own reflections?
What if that’s actually your subconscious knowing that there isn’t just you when you stare into the mirror?
The same girl groaned as she floundered in her bed, growling at the incessant beeping of her alarm before managing to turn it off, almost knocking the clock off its rest in her frustrated attempts to shut it up. Her hand raked through her hair as she stood up, shaking her head in an attempt to wake up quicker, knowing there was little time for a coffee before she made it in to work.
She sighed as she got herself ready for another pointless day at work where nothing interesting ever happened. She wondered what she was doing with her life, working a tedious job at the same dreary convenience store she had worked at since she’d left school. Wondered when she’d get to stop seeing the same people every day and stop having to smile politely and pretend that she was interested in what they had to say and what they were doing with their lives. The pay wasn’t even that good and yet here she was, still getting up every day to go to the same dead-end job because there was nothing else for her to do. Because that’s what people did after all; they got up, they went about their lives doing jobs they didn’t like to get by; it was the way of the world. She knew what people would say if she complained. That at least she had a job. That at least she wasn’t stuck in that loop of job-hunts and interviews and rejection letters that many others her age were in at that very moment.
She stood herself in front of her mirror once she was dressed in her uniform, making sure she looked as respectful and put-together as everyone expected her to be once she was at work. If they knew what she really thought maybe they’d think differently of her. But then again, we’re all only human. We all want something more than what we have.
She smiled at her reflection, using the same fake smile she used for her customers in an attempt to steel herself for what was to come before she stepped away from the mirror, sighing as she checked around her room one last time. She glared at nothing in particular, annoyed that as per usual she was being made to open up the store alone because her manager couldn’t be bothered to make the effort.
She walked out of the room at a slow measured pace, not at all concerned about whether she would be late or not. No-one would know anyway.
In a mirror our perspectives of ourselves can be completely different to how others see us. We find the faults in ourselves that sometimes no one else can see.
Conversely in life, our perspectives of other people can be completely different to how others see them or how people see themselves.
Sometimes these perceptions of people can be completely skewed.
It is not always wise to judge a book by its cover.
The girl stared out of the large window at the front of the store, sitting on a small stool behind the counter and swinging her legs, trying not to feel bored at the fact that nobody had come into the store so far. The clock seemed to echo through the store, time dragging slower than it actually was. A book was open before her though she glanced up every few moments, worried someone would snap at her for reading while she should be working even though there was no one there to say anything. She jumped slightly as she heard the whoosh of the automatic doors and the soft tread of someone’s boots.
She looked up quickly, taking in the man that had come in through the door - tall, slender but muscular and not much older than herself if she was any good at ageing people on appearance – before her own reflection in the glass beside him made her realise she looked somewhat nervous of him; even if it was only from being startled by his entrance. She tried to compose her features into the obligatory smile as the doors closed behind him.
Against her outward appearance, however, the smirk he gave her in return unnerved her.
She took a moment, as he turned away to look at one of the racks, to look him up and down; slightly worried he was a shoplifter. He had a confident aura around him, she noted first; the way he held himself, the self-assured expression on his face. He was dressed all in black leathers, a helmet held under his arm and his hair styled to a point where you knew it must have been expensive. She probably would have been admiring him if it wasn’t for the slight nagging worry. Being on her own in the store had never seemed so nerve-wracking and she wasn’t even sure why she was feeling this way.
She gulped slightly as he came to the counter, that smirk still plastered on his face as he watched her. Her eyes widened as he leaned in closer when she opened the till to get his change. Her eyes caught her reflection again, seeing the panic in her eyes and his self-satisfied smirk widening when she looked back at him, wondering whether she should slam the till shut quick or not even attempt it. A soft chuckle by her ear made her freeze further.
“You’re kind of cute when you’re scared.”
Sometimes, however, our perceptions are right first time.
On these occasions listening to your instincts is not a bad thing.
The girl lounged behind the counter, flicking through the book in front of her with a cursory glance up now and then, not really caring what anyone thought if they came through the door, b
ut still feeling the need to look up every so often just in case. She may hate the job but it would be better to keep it if she could; looking for another would be even more tedious. The automatic doors alerted her that someone had entered and she sat up slightly straighter, more professional, though still trying to act nonchalant. She tensed up, almost an unnoticeable amount, at the man that walked in, warning bells ringing slightly. The guy looked dangerous, a typical bad guy image flicking through her head as she gave him a quick appraisal. Not that she minded the look, he was good looking after all and she felt the need for some excitement in her life. Though she wasn’t quite sure this was the excitement she was going for.
She looked back down after a moment, scowling, noticing in her reflection near him that her nervous expression was making him smirk. She mentally shook herself before she looked back up, the fake smile in place as she watched him go around the store. If anyone ever was to ask why, she was keeping an eye on him just in case, using this as an excuse in her head to check him out in relative comfort. She pretended she hadn’t been doing just that when he made his way over to the counter, scanning everything through and opening the till without even glancing at him while she worked.
She jumped slightly as she felt the man lean in close to her, looking passed his shoulder at her reflection in the doors, almost as if to check this was really happening and realising, angrily, that once again she looked startled. When she looked back at him, he was smirking yet again at her.
A chuckle near her ear made her shiver slightly, though she tried to hide it as best she could.
“How about you give me all of that?” His eyes focused on the till.
Chapter 2: Similarities
While sometimes the mirror images outlook on life is different, more often than not aspects of their personality stay the same in either reality.
After all, it is still the same person, right?
The girl blinked as the man stepped back out of her personal bubble, leaving her with a dilemma. Did she do as he said and hope he’d leave it at that? Or risk his anger and refuse? She once again caught her reflection over his shoulder; pale and tense which incensed her into action as he tapped impatiently on the counter in front of her. She kept the glare on her face, her mouth a thin line as she snapped the till closed, dropping some coins next to his items. “Your change, sir.”
The guy stopped smiling, a soft look of shock slackening his face in disbelief before his cocky smile was back, like there had been an unexpected blip in his plan but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. “What was that?”
“Your change.” She replied coolly before smiling her usual fake smile, her heart hammering in discord to her actions but she felt the need to continue now she’d started. Backing down just wasn’t in her nature. “Have a nice day.” She left off the customary ‘please come again’ and with an odd satisfaction, hoped he’d realise that. Her face dropped back into a scowl as he chuckled again. “What?”
“Oh, nothing.” He looked up at her, making her heart stutter and her face flush slightly, much to her annoyance. “You’ve got some misplaced courage there, you know that?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll take that as a compliment, now kindly leave.”
Instant anger and resistance at being scared for instance.
The girl mouthed the words he had uttered back to herself as the man moved away from her. It felt like it took a moment for them to sink in before a rush of relief went through her as she realised she didn’t have to deal with a shoplifter or worse. Two seconds later though, the relieved feeling changed to one of irritation at the man for scaring her like that. She took a moment to rearrange her expression in the window opposite before closing the till and turning back to him, the annoyance showing on her face. “You didn’t have to scare me like that you know.”
The guy blinked for a second, though a grin reappeared moments later. “It was only a joke, sorry...though it is true.”
“What’s true?”
He chuckled. “You’re cute when you’re scared. Well, you’re cute in general if I’m honest.”
The girl flushed, though she tried to hide it as she put the change on the counter before her. “Your change.”
Another similarity could be a persistent nature perhaps.
The girl sighed as she looked up from the counter after hearing the door click open. Once again, the guy she had met before was walking into the shop, like he had every other day since their first meeting, not at all perturbed by her response at the time. In fact it seemed to have made him more curious of her than he would have been otherwise though at least he was no longer trying to rob the store. Her eyes met briefly with her co-worker’s, who was trying not to look at him suspiciously, having heard what had happened but at least for the moment she was not alone with him, just in case anything untoward did happen. She was actually starting to find the guy’s antics amusing by this point. Who goes to rob a store and ends up buying something from it each day thereafter instead to try and chat to the girl behind the counter?
She turned back to him as he approached the counter, trying to smile as she did with any other customer, taking his shopping and giving him his change without much of an exchange of words. The fake smile froze though when he caught her wrist while it was extended with the change. This was new.
He grinned at her. “So, why don’t you come out with me for a bit?”
She blinked at him, confused at the sudden proposal. “Huh?” She shook her head as she realised he was being serious, giving him a disbelieving look as she yanked her arm away. “No thanks. I’m working right now. You know, if you hadn’t noticed that fact.”
“That’s not hard to deal with.” He let his arm drop, looking almost disappointed by her pulling away before he walked back to her co-worker. She didn’t know what was said. He could have been threatening him for all she knew before he walked back and gave her arm a slight tug again, a smile on his face as if he’d just helped her out. “See? All sorted. Your afternoon is now free.”
She spluttered as she was led out, not knowing what to say to excuse herself from this situation, just wanting him to let go of her arm again. There were a million worst case scenarios going through her head but she couldn’t quite get her mouth to stop talking. “I don’t know a thing about you; I don’t even know your name. What makes you think I’m going anywhere with you?”
“It’s Gary.”
“What?” She looked up at him, shocked she’d even got a response to what felt like her rambling thoughts.
“My name’s Gary.” He looked down at her, making her realise the height difference and how she had no hope of escape as he put his other arm around her shoulder. She was starting to wish she’d taken some self-defence lessons. “What’s yours?” He grinned as she looked away and mumbled something. “Sorry, didn’t catch that.”
“Kay.”
“Kay?” Gary grinned, relieved that she had been answering him and that he’d finally found out her name, not that it seemed like she was going to notice his reaction any time soon.
“It’s short for Katelin but I don’t like it, so if you’re going to call me anything it’d better be Kay.” Kay looked away from him, still trying to appear confident and annoyed at this entire turn of events; even though her heart was beating fast and she was scared stiff of what was going on, she still felt the need to pretend she was fine. It had worked with him before after all.
Gary smiled reassuringly even though she wasn’t looking and led her to his bike, throwing her a spare helmet as he let go of her arm.
“You had this all planned out, didn’t you?” She raised an eyebrow at him, the helmet shifting between her hands.
He grinned. “Of course, I planned it all. You’d have had excuses to leave otherwise if I hadn’t.” He sat down on the motorbike, patting the seat behind him. “Come on.”
“What makes you think I’m coming?”
“You haven’t run away yet.” He shrugged, turning away from her, fid
dling with his own helmet.
Kay glared at the back of his head, acknowledging his logical approach. She mulled the thoughts over in her head. At this moment she could throw the helmet at him and make a run for it. But then again he did have a motorbike and it wouldn’t take him long to catch up. Added to that fact was that she was kind of curious about where all of this was headed. She looked back at the store, a small smile threatening to tug its way onto her face; he had gotten her away from her boring job for the afternoon. She sighed and sat down behind him, not really knowing herself why she did it, why she didn’t at least make an attempt to leave. She stopped for a second once she sat down, not really knowing how to hold on.
Gary smirked from in front of her, knowing that she couldn’t see and again, having thought this might happen beforehand. “You hold here.” He reached backwards and caught her hands again, putting them round his waist. His mouth twitching slightly at the sudden tension in the body behind him but he didn’t say anything, instead choosing to start the engine. His smile widened as he felt Kay’s arms relax into a better position before tightening reflexively as he started up the motorbike.
It took half an hour before he pulled up in front of a shabby looking shack in the middle of nowhere, a sudden awkward tension filling the air as he realised exactly what this might look like and the fact that it was obvious that the girl behind him had gotten intensely suspicious. “So…here we are.”
Kay got off the bike, all of her muscles tight with an anxious energy, her entire being wondering why the hell she’d come with him, especially now that she was taking in where she was.
Gary made her jump as he touched her shoulder. He flinched back like he’d been scolded as she skittered away. He raised his arms up in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. “I’m not going to hurt you, you know.”
Mirror Land Page 1