Hall of Mirrors

[WP] You have the ability to walk through mirrors. They lead to a limbo where all of the mirrors of the world converge like a nexus. You can choose to emerge from any other mirror in the world. One day, in Limbo, you find a mirror that doesn't lead back to the world you know.

******

Superpowers and abilities were commonplace in society. Flight, Sonic-Boom shouts, shooting lightning bolts from one’s eyes; all these were normal things we had to get used to. Homo sapiens gave way for Homo superiora, or whatever those lousy scientists called it.

'Man' gave way for Demigods.

And I… I was given the ability to escape this reality.

I was 13 when I first discovered I could walk through mirrors.

It was a common theory that a secret world existed on the other side of a mirror, some even said another dimension which we could only contact by looking into the reflection – just to see a few glimpses of our life on the other side. Heck, some scientists even claimed that the mirror was where the events of these dimensions coincided in what we called our ‘reflection’.

All those theories couldn’t be any more wrong.

On the other side of a mirror existed… Limbo. That was what I called it.

I was the only one who had this ability – at least the only one I knew. I had never seen anyone in Limbo, but people looking into their mirrors could see me walking by, and I relished their shrieks and jumps when they see me, thinking I was a ghost.

When I was in Limbo, I could see all the mirrors in the world – and this was limited to mirrors, one-way glasses, and the likes as far as they were at least three inches tall. I could also go to any mirror by thinking about any place in the world, and suddenly I’d be at the mirror closest to that place.

I could be anywhere, anytime. I could finally escape what I called reality – a home with seven kids, and abusive factory-worker father, and a mother whose only concern was that we all brought back 10 dollars each at the end of the day.

My mother tried to keep me away from all mirrors, following me whenever I went out and handcuffing my hand to hers. She would never let even one of us go, that was for sure. But my chance came when we were walking back home, and I saw a new neighbor moving in. The handcuffs were off since we were already at home and my mother didn’t expect me to escape.

The new neighbors were carrying in a new 6-inch mirror. By the time my mother saw the danger, it was too late. I ran and jumped into the mirror, and I was gone for life. That same day, Kurt Kroch appeared in Germany, and that was my identity for the next ten years.

But soon I discovered that life wasn’t going to smile on me. Not now, not ever. No matter where I went on this hell we called the earth, I could never know peace. Love. Friendship. Kindness. I was forced to become cold-hearted, strong, and ruthless, but even then I could not survive.

I was always on the run, always on the switch lane – it soon became only a matter of days before I changed location again. 28, broken in more ways than one and wanted as a fraudster in more than 13 countries of the world, my life was a movie even I wouldn’t accept payment to watch.

One day, I sat in Limbo, feeling the usual – battered, scattered, and shattered. There was almost no window I could pop out of without a security unit waiting on the other side. I had overused my ability, and now the only place I could exist was in Limbo. In the middle point. As I had lived all my life.

Always seeking comfort, stability, and yet never finding it. Always on the run, never finding rest.

“I want to escape this reality,” I said out loud, tears welling in my eyes.

All of a sudden, the entire realm went black. And when the lights came back, there was only one mirror there. And in that mirror was me, sitting in the same hopeless position, but in a big office.

“You think your life is messed up, Kurt?” my reflection said.

“Yeah, do you?”

“You have no idea. I’m tired of this life – the perfect textbook life, y’know? Rich family. Good grades. Made a multimillion-dollar company from scratch. Beautiful Wife, Two kids – a boy and a girl. I just…” he said.

I was stunned.

“You have got to be goddamn kidding me, you b*stard. I’ve been on the run all my life. I’ve never had even a glimpse of the stability and success you have, never. Always on the fast lane…”

His eyes beamed. “But surely, you know what it feels like to be alive, yeah? The fast lane - a life of adventure, intrigue, and suspense. Action, adrenaline – you know what it feels like to be… not me” he said, looking morose. “It looks like I’m just following a program implanted in my mind at birth. Like I’m living a life meant to be for…”

“…someone else,” we both echoed.

I looked up at him. “You think…we could?”

“It… just might work. Maybe if we make the switch we’ll retain our individual consciousnesses. Perhaps all we’ll exchange is bodies and memories so that we’ll know who’s who in our new lives. It’ll be the perfect mirror effect. Then we’ll know we have what we want, and how to enjoy it,” I said, unsure.

“Anything you’d like to tell me about my new life there?” he said, coming closer to the mirror, as was I.

“It’s messed up. You’re wanted in 13 countries, but there’s a stash of clothes, money, food, and gadgets here. Stolen stuff though, but could last you a while.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“Your cup of tea.”

I placed my hand on the mirror, and he did so on the dame point at the same time.

The room vibrated, and when I opened my eyes, I was in a suit in a fancy office, and he was in ripped jeans and a black leather jacket.

“It…worked?”

I heard cracks, and I saw the mirror begin to fall apart. “Perhaps this can only be done once, meaning these lives…” he started.

“…are permanent. You okay?” I asked.

Smiling sadly, he gave me a thumbs up. “I’m happy as are you. This is the life I’ve always wanted. I’ll go do something insane for the thrill of it. You treat the family right, Kurt…”

With that, the mirror broke.

Somehow, I felt as though I had lost a part of me, but when I knocked on my door and saw my wife and kids open it with warm hugs, I knew it had just connected to the missing piece.

I was home.

******

@Leo_kitti, @Hanzell, @Gwenie, @gertu13 Back to one-shots.