The Mirror Man (very short) - Writers Forum

Azmakna · 05-21-2007, 11:11 AM

The Mirror Man

For three weeks, all the mirrors in my house had been turned to face the wall. Perhaps, I speculated, he would lose interest and leave me alone. He had been there all along of course, but I had never really considered him anything more than a figment of my imagination. I pictured him sniggering at my inability to exercise him, waiting and waiting for that day when I could pluck up the courage to face him again. Today was that day.

Oh yes, I’d thought of the obvious many times, and I’d taken a hammer to every mirror in my house, watching him fragment and tumble to the ground. But, no matter how many times I smashed the scattered pieces; there was I tiny slither of him staring back up at me.

He was there in shop windows, crawling over parked cars and looming in their hubs, his eye expanding as I bent to confront him. I’ve tried to cook him in the microwave, tumble him to death in my dryer, lose him in a revolving door… I can’t begin to explain how enraged I get when he sticks to me like fly paper. He got me banned from using public transport four weeks ago, simply because he was too cowardly to show himself to others. At least if I had mirrors, I could keep him prisoner – that was a little recompense.

Three cans of Carling and a spliff later, I flipped the first mirror. At first I thought he’d gone… moved on to haunt some other innocent soul, but as the angle grew shallower, he slipped into view.

“Fucking arsehole, leave me alone!”

As usual, he mouthed the very same words.

I ran through the house and approached the second mirror, thinking that he would struggle to keep up, and turned that too. No such luck! How is it possible, I thought, he can’t know where I’m going or what I’m going to do next. Again, I began to run through the house, but this time I kept running – into the living room, up the stairs, into the bathroom, out into the garden, back to the living room and into the kitchen, where I flipped the third mirror. There he was. One thing I did notice though, and something I had never noted before, was that clearly it had taken it out of him. There was sweat at his brow.

“Not so fit?”

I stepped away from the mirror and began to jog on the spot, keeping it up for nearly two hours, before jumping back in front of the mirror again. I was right! He looked exhausted, his rheumy eyes running with tears, jaw slack and his skin glossy. Perhaps he was mortal after all.

I decided it was time to take drastic action. I headed to my bedroom where I kept my handgun and took it from the drawer. As I checked the magazine for bullets, I smiled to myself. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? For the first time in months, I felt in control as I approached the bedroom mirror and nonchalantly turned it. He was smiling, but not for long.

“Think you’re clever, don’t ya…”

I aimed the gun straight at his head, looking through the sight. To my astonishment, he had a gun too and was aiming it straight back at me. This was going to be trickier than I imagined. My gun and his gun were at equidistance from the mirror and I knew that if I pulled the trigger, he would probably have time to pull his, shooting me dead. I would have to rethink. Placing the gun on the dresser, I sat on its red, padded seat and rubbed my chin.

After many questions, I had narrowed it down to a couple: was he made of flesh or was he a ghost? Should I leave it to chance? Should I flip a coin? Then it came to me, as clear as day: perhaps I was the mirror man.
There was a 50/50 chance that I could be, and considering that good odds, I rose from the seat and faced the mirror once again, pointing the gun in the hope that this time he would think better of mimicking me, but no, there he was, gun in hand.

If I was the mirror man then when I fired my bullet there was the possibility that my gun shot blanks, but his bullet could kill me. If I was not the mirror man and he was, then my bullet could pass straight through him and his bullet could still kill me. Could I take that chance? I had to decide which one of us was the mirror man, but there was no way of knowing for sure, so I decided to leave it to chance. From my trousers pocket I took a ten pence piece and tossed it. Heads I was, tails I was not. Heads! I paused for a moment though… were my bullets real? Once again, I left it to chance, tossing the coin. Heads they were real, tails they were blank. Tails!

I aimed the gun and grinned. He grinned back as if he knew something I didn’t.

“You think you’ve got the better of me, don’t you,” I said, “I am the mirror man aren’t I, you know, I can see it in your eyes… and these are blank bullets.” I laughed, realising what I had to do.

Confidently I took the gun with blank bullets and aimed it at him; he did the same, looking pleased with himself. Then I turned the gun and placed it to my head, which he of course copied. His face grew fearful.

“You never thought of that, did you,” I said and pulled the trigger.

nineteen · 05-21-2007, 03:06 PM

ohh, really good. great idea. at first it felt too fast paced, but the pacing was just right in reality. it was frantic and panicked and it worked really well, really had my heart racing.

a good job as far as i can see.

Charlie_Eleanor · 05-21-2007, 03:16 PM

Really great. I love your writing! It is so well put together. This story was predictable, but I'm not all too sure that isn't what you meant it to be. Very well written, and fun. An interesting perspective to see what someone thinks of their own actions when they see them from the outside, if that makes since.

Well Done.

Azmakna · 05-21-2007, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie_Eleanor

Really great. I love your writing! It is so well put together. This story was predictable, but I'm not all too sure that isn't what you meant it to be. Very well written, and fun. An interesting perspective to see what someone thinks of their own actions when they see them from the outside, if that makes since.

Well Done.

did you expect him to put the gun to his head though? he thinks he has the blanks because he's the mirror man and so he thinks the guy in the mirror has real bullets, but in actual fact our protaganist is just plain insane

Charlie_Eleanor · 05-21-2007, 03:49 PM

It wasn't so much that I expected him to do it, I just hoped he would. I think my mind worked faster than the story in imagining what ending would be neat. I really liked that it ended that way.

Azmakna · 05-21-2007, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie_Eleanor

It wasn't so much that I expected him to do it, I just hoped he would. I think my mind worked faster than the story in imagining what ending would be neat. I really liked that it ended that way.

baring in mind that i didn't mention anything about him maybe being the mirror man and didn't say anything about him putting the gun to his head until the very last sentence, what pointed you to that conclusion. i could change that you see and make it totally unexpected - which i thought is was anyway lol. i knew that some would think he was the mirror man himself, some would realise that he was just insane and some may think that there really was a mirror man, but i didn't expect anyone to imagine him putting the gun to his own head.

nineteen · 05-21-2007, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azmakna

did you expect him to put the gun to his head though? he thinks he has the blanks because he's the mirror man and so he thinks the guy in the mirror has real bullets, but in actual fact our protaganist is just plain insane

oh ye, to be honest i saw the whole gun/head thing about ten miles off. quite predicitlbe, but still i liked it a lot.

nineteen · 05-21-2007, 05:10 PM

plus love that picture, what is it, a night elf?

love that game ><

Mike C · 05-22-2007, 05:20 AM

Why did he never consider just breaking a mirror?

Not a bad story, and having the end foreshadowed didn't diminish it. It needs rewriting (as every story inevitably does) to sharpen and tighten, but it's a good start.

One thing - you don't check the barrel of a gun for bullets.

BoyWithBayonet · 05-22-2007, 10:00 AM

Very nice story; I loved it. The concept was an obvious one of himself being the mirror man, but I've never read anything of the like before. You did a nice job of adding a little originality and spice to it, by having the protagonist put the gun to his head. I honestly hadn't expected that; that idea of himself having blanks and the "mirror man" real bullets was great.

Great job!

Azmakna · 05-22-2007, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike C

Why did he never consider just breaking a mirror?

Not a bad story, and having the end foreshadowed didn't diminish it. It needs rewriting (as every story inevitably does) to sharpen and tighten, but it's a good start.

One thing - you don't check the barrel of a gun for bullets.

thanks Mike! i'll tighten it as you have suggested and perhaps... just perhaps lol, i can come up with a reason he doesn't break the mirror. he isn't the mirror man by the way, he's just a mad man

Mike C · 05-22-2007, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azmakna

he isn't the mirror man by the way, he's just a mad man

I figured that one out.

Azmakna · 05-22-2007, 05:40 PM

deleted

G. Palmer · 05-22-2007, 08:24 PM

Two things:

a) you check the magazine of a gun for bullets
b) a blank to the head will still kill you, just ask Jon-Erik Hexum or Brandon Lee

That said, it's still a good story, and *with* the knowledge that blanks can still kill you it has a darkly ironic ending. (and I suspect that result was intended anyway)

Fictionfreak · 05-22-2007, 11:39 PM

Excellent. Very original. The best thing about your story is that it draws the reader in immediatly. It was kind of funny too. Despite some crazy guy killing himself, the whole premisis reminds me of that thing your parents always telling you when your looking at your reflection-- "Who's that idiot in the mirror, oh that's you."

Bravo, Fictionfreak.