Mirror

I sit on a simple wooden stool. Staring at nothing and everything at the same time. The world around me is quiet, but my mind is an endless cacophony of hurricane force winds as thoughts swirl around violently in my head. Soon a pain, no, a pressure is ever present in the back of my head making it hard to look at myself in the silver gleaming iridescent mirror.

What I see is nothing I want to see. I gaze at the portrait of hideous monster with words written over it's forehead. Useless Loser Worthless Idiot

It mirrors my every move even though I wish desperately it wasn't a part of me. But it sticks to me like a sickness I can't get over. The Thing's skin is ashen and pulled tight across its bones. Its sickly thin with big black circles under it's hollowed eyes that seem to sink into its head the more you stare at it. The Thing's hair is greasy and spindly, its shoulders and elbows stick out at unnatural angles.

I go to punch the glass so I don't have to see this disgusting version of myself anymore. But no matter where I am, whatever mirror I look in I will always see this. I feel the warmness of tears running down my cheeks, onto my lips, and drip off my chin. The monster in the mirror smiles. It's an ugly smile, a mouth filled with jagged sharp teeth, where there are still teeth. The lips are a cascade of purple, black and blue, and thinner then twigs. But this smile holds no warmth. It exudes a savage hunger for power, and realizes its close to winning. I just want to end it all.

The Thing raises its arms to embrace me with that sinister smile still on its scarred face. The tears have stopped, It smiles a moment longer, but then its smile starts to fall off its face. A look of curiosity crosses its face, and it tilts its head to the side like a deranged rabid dog.

"No more." My voice shatters the everlasting silence in the room.

The world comes bursting back to life, light shines through the widow, and people are walking and driving outside, going about their lives. I look back to the mirror and the Thing is retreating. Before it can disappear the words start to glow like a brilliant sun, and change. Beautiful Is what is changes too. Then is changes again to Confident, and then to Powerful. I feel free. When I look down from the words, I see myself now. Just me. The regular guy with nothing special about him. Except everything is special about me. I am powerful, and unique, and my pain is only temporary. Some things happen that I can't control, and some things happen that I can control. But I can always control how I react.

A shadow lingers on the wall behind me in the mirror. I know it's the Thing still there. I get up and see the shadow still there when I look at the wall and walk over to the widow. I pull the curtain open and let the light in. The shadow disappears. I get a warmth inside that lifts me up higher then I've ever felt.

• An original short story by A Cray Unicorn *The purpose of this short prose is to enlighten. You never know the effect of something you say to someone has on them. It's a delicate line between being "funny" and being a cyber bully. So be careful what you say. Refer back to t a very cliche common saying "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." I think it's just common sense. I also think it takes less effort to be a decent human being. [sg-soraka]