The Mirror

Frank was an evil old soul who wasn't gregarious in nature and quite callous! A brutal old man with no friends in the world and not like he cared a bit. He hated people, hated socializing and especially hated that Eleven year old neighbour's son, Kyle, who didn't quite know where his business ends and another person's own started. He was too nosey.

"Why do you have all the mirrors in your house covered?"

Frank, taken aback grunted and replied him, "how do you know what happens in my house?"

"I climbed the tree to fetch my kite and couldn't help but look in. It's quite a gloomy place if I must say."

"Well don't say!" The old man shot back, sized the 4ft boy from head to toe and sniggered, walking away. But Kyle was a curious child. He didn't just give up.

"I asked you a question. Why do you have your mirrors covered?"

Frank, knowing there was only one way to kick the boy out of his lawn paused, turned to look down at the boy and gave a coy smile. "Because I don’t like what I see? Now get away from me before something serious happens to you!”  The old man uttered.

Kyle just smiled and left.

Several days passed and Kyle remembered the old man and decided to pay him another visit. “Mr. Frank!” He called out, skipping over the lawn to the front porch. Frank stopped him by placing the end of this walking stick on the boys chest and pushed. Kyle stumbled down the steps but stood firm when he landed.

“I told you to stay away from me!” He reminded Kyle, hovering the stick in front of his face

“But why?” The little boy inquired.

“Because I don’t want to be friends with you! You’re much too young to understand anything!”

“Yes that may be true, I am young but I can understand and feel many things. So why not tell me what’s bothering you and I’ll listen. I promise I won’t judge you!”  Kyle confessed.

Frank sat on the crooked rock chair on the porch and stared long and hard at the boy. A thought came to his mind and he relaxed.

“Well since you must know, I am not a likeable person as you ought to know. I’ve hidden myself from the world.

My childhood was messed up, abusive, raised in a dysfunctional family environment. It drove me insane and eventually broke me, I killed my father with an ice pick, you know?"

Frank watched the boy's eyes widen in horror. He smiled and looked beyond him, over there lawn.

"I set my mother on fire while she was sleeping, cut a little boy’s legs off and watched him bleed to death and piece-by-piece I sliced and diced a little girl because she kept screaming wouldn’t shut up!" He slammed his fist on the arm rest, a frown across his face. He was breathing fast as he remembered them, then he calmed down relaxing his back on the chair.

"I’ve done many cruel crimes and I’ve served time in prison for what I’ve done yet to this day still I’m paying for each and every one. I don’t know why I did those awful things to them, they’ve done me no harm but something came over me and it just happened.” his expression saddened

"What came over you?” Kyle, who was shaken by the old man's confession asked.

“Something evil! I see it when I look in the mirror and it’s quite hideous!” He scrunched his face, replying quite nonchalantly.

“I’m sure it’s all in your mind Mr. Frank." Kyle tried to sound strong. "You’re just letting your imagination get the best of you!"

“No! It’s not my imagination! I’ve spent 60-years of prison time to prove it.  I just have this..... uncontrollable urge to kill." Frank sighed, turned his gaze on the boy and frowned again, "Now go away and leave me be!”

Frank watched the boy go before getting up to go inside, he had a little something to take care of. The last thing he wanted was the smell of a rotting corpse attracting unwanted attention. Especially with a snooping and curious kid like Kyle. He chose to take the back way.

The body, tired up in the huge black sack was heavy, but Frank managed to pull it out of the house and into his old pickup before getting into the driver's seat. He knew Kyle saw him. He knew he had left the door open. And knowing who Kyle was, he knew the boy would enter the house.

He started the car and drove off.

Kyle walked over to close his door but curiosity got the better of him. He stepped in.

The place smelled awful like he hadn’t cleaned in years. Dirty clothes and rags smeared with bloodstains were thrown around everywhere. The excessive amount of water bugs all over the place would result into quite an infestation. 

As he walked through the house noticing all of the covered mirrors, thinking of the story he heard from Frank, he decided to uncover one just to see what the old man had seen. Slowly he walked over and without hesitation he quickly snatched off the sheet from one of the mirrors.

Nothing.

Just his reflection staring back at him. He almost laughed, what a fool the old man had played him to be. But after a minute of staring he screamed out with all his might then ran.

Several months passed and the little boy was never able to say a word to anyone. He was taken to various doctors to have a test run on him trying everything they could to get him to speak, but instead he would scream out as if he were in great agony or pain. Sometimes he'd scream out like a woman or child being tortured and other times he screams like a man or howls like a wounded animal in distress. Then he’d become silent as he lie still staring into space with a terrified look on his face while strapped to a bed in the psychiatric hospital.

Till date, no one knows what terrible thing happened in that house that day or what terrible things the boy saw in that mirror.

Perhaps he was demonstrating the torture, pain and suffering of all of those tormented victims from the images he witnessed in that mirror.

Kyle never recovered and the old man was never seen again.