Story 5: A World of Mirrors

[Concerto No.20 in D minor]

You guys know what to do!  Have fun!

"....he did not wish to be interviewed.  the_grimace, after a long run with NSM has finally split ways.  We ask G-Han why.  'Too bad. I wanted to say goodbye and that [the_grimace] (was) the most childish one in the end. I mean, leaving because we wanted to work together...teamwork is what made NSM big, after all.'  And there you have it from the G-Man himself.  Now back to ZeldaFan with the sports...." 
The room was dark, and the TV screen blared out sound and picture in the darkness.  I was asleep in my chair, drool coming from the corner of my mouth.  There was a small spider in the corner of the room, twirling her web in hopes of catching a fly.  "BUY BUY BUY!!!  WITH NEW CAR INSURANCE YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE!!1 TOP DOLLAR!" blasted a commercial on the television.  With that I jolted awake startled.  Realizing where I was, I quickly got up cursing under my breath and turned off the TV, nearly pushing it over. 
I slowly made my way to the window and looked outside.  The lawn had a fresh new layer of snow on the ground and the moon was full, making it very bright outside.  You could see the mountains in the far off distance glimmering under the moonlight.  After staring fondly at the moon for a few minutes I turned around and walked toward the kitchen. 
I flipped the switch and my humble light bulb dangling from the ceiling flicked on, then fizzled and went out.  “Darn it….that’s the 3rd one this MONTH!”  I ignored the broken light and went to the refrigerator.  I opened it up and was bathed in the light that it had and I grabbed some milk.  After pouring a glass, I went back into the den and sat down in my recliner. 
I took a sip, and looked up to notice the little spider, creating art.  I started to drift back to sleep, milk in hand admiring the delicate art that the spider slowly weaved on my ceiling.  I was at the mirror again; it had been beckoning me, calling to me telling me come closer and closer.  I could see my reflection and it also called me to it.
“What do you want?  I can’t come in there with you, you’re just a reflection!”  I screamed to myself.  Suddenly the other me became very angry and glowed a very white light and consumed me with this light.  I jolted awake again, this time the sun in my eyes was the cause.  “Am I ever going to sleep properly?” I thought to myself.  I got up and went upstairs, hoping that a cold shower would bring me back to earth. 
After getting out of the shower, I looked at myself in the mirror.  I had bags under my eyes, and I was getting thinner.  But then suddenly something caught my eye.  My reflection had WINKED at me.  Knowing that this was just an effect from sleeplessness I started to wash my face.  I filled the sink with cold water and after only a second of hesitation, plunged head first into it.  The sensation was very refreshing, and also bracing.  After blowing bubbles from my mouth, and took my head out of the water and let the excess water drain from my hair. 
I dried my face with my towel and looked back at my reflection, and saw the back of my head.  I fell to the floor in shock, and thought that I really was crazy.  I slowly got back up and looked once again into the mirror.  This time it was just me staring back, and I shook my head and went out of the bathroom and got dressed.  Knowing I had a long day ahead, I ate a big breakfast.
I did the dishes and went to the front room.  I looked at myself in the mirror checking to make sure there were no imperfections when suddenly, my reflection gestured me to come nearer.  I thought that I must have been still sleeping, and that would explain all that had happened, so I decided to go along with it.  I got about 2 feet from my mirror and just stared at me; and my reflection did the same.



Then my own reflection gestured once again for me to come closer, and so I got right up against the mirror, and looked at myself.  Then suddenly my reflection grabbed me and pulled me into the mirror and I was flying through whiteness at an incredible speed.

Then suddenly everything stopped.  I looked around, and saw that I was floating in a huge vast white space and off in the extreme distance I could see small specks everywhere.  Some were clustered and some were off by themselves; and then it hit me.  I was looking at the world, from the inside.  I could make out the outline of the continents and I could see that some places were darker and some were light.

"Amazed?" called a quiet voice.  I fell down in shock again, and turned around to see who had whispered in my ear.  There was no one there.  "Oh I'm sorry, did I surprise you?" laughed the same voice.  "Who are you, and WHERE are you?" I called, somewhat cowardly.  "WHO am I?  Indeed, WHO am I....I, am YOU; and where you are, I am also." the quiet voice said again.  "Wh-what are you....who....WHERE AM I?!" I yelled.  "There’s no need to be upset, I will explain everything.  You see the objects off in the distance?  What you are seeing are the reflections of millions of mirrors, every single mirror in the world to be precise.  And every single one of those mirrors, is open to your use." the voice calmly explained. 

"What are you talking about?  Send me back home right now!” I screamed.  “I knew this was going to be difficult…I might as well tell you right out, you are the new keeper of the mirrors.”  “The keeper of the wha-?  NO!  Just tell me how to get back home.”  I got back on my feet and started to walk away.  “Where do you think you’re going?” mocked the voice.  “HOME!”  "How?"  "I don't know!"  "Exactly."

I turned around, and fell down to the ground.  "FINE!  Just tell me how to get home."  "Oh I will, and so much more." the voice whispered.

[HugoMeister]

A small screen appeared a few feet away from where I was standing. "Look upon it..." said the mysterious voice. I reluctantly walked over to the small screen. I closed my eyes at first, afraid I would see the world I had left behind in destruction. I opened my eyes. It was the index of NSM forums. "Phew..." I sighed aloud.

"Look closer...." said the voice. I inspected it closely, but it appeared perfectly normal. Then I had reached the bottom of the page. My eyes openened in horror.

Creativity Corner
Post all your art, own compositions or stories here!

"W...T...F...."

[razer84]

Then the voice said, "Ha ha ha! ROFL! You fell for it!"

I looked up, puzzled. "Fell for what?" I asked.

[Brawler4Ever]

The voice laughed again.
"You just got PUNKED!"

"PUNKED?" I asked. "Do you mean, like, the show, PUNKED?"

"Exactly!" the strange voice exclaimed. "Let me explain: you are the Chosen One by 'the_Grimace' to bear the Ring of Power and carry it into HALO, where you will have to drop it in Bowser's Castle!"

"How do I do that?" i asked.

"WITH THE magicalr wand of mirrors. TOGETHER, YOU AND YOUR WAND WILL SAVE THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM!" it explained.

"What does that have to do with being PUNKED?" I asked. I was very angry, and very confused.

"NOTHING!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Good luck, Hero of Mirrors." The voice disappeared into the darkness.
A stick dropped onto the floor near me. I picked it up. On the end, it read:maGICALr WAND OF MiRRoRS

I found a decent-sized mirror near me. It was all black, with tiny white dots in it. "Space." I realized. I jumped into the mirror, only to find myself hurtling down to a great battle below. I was in... the Lylat System!

[blah54]

Or so I thought… The Lylat System was indeed right in front of me, but to my surprise I was looking into another mirror. Instantly I ripped my eyes away from the Lylat System to investigate my surroundings. I was in space, but not the space I had imagined. With a shock I realized that the “Space” was simply the center of all the mirrors, the place where my unexpected and confusing adventure through my own mirror had begun.

There were thousands of mirrors everywhere. Why could I see all these mirrors here now? When I was first here, it had simply been looking at the world from the inside… But now…

“Amazed?” came a quiet, yet familiar voice and instinctively my eyes darted in all directions before cursing as I remembered that I could not see this “person”.

“What the hell is going on?” I demanded loudly. As much as I was shaking on the inside, I would not appear a coward to this invisible being.

“You are the keeper of the mirrors.” The voice replied coolly, “You have control over all things that reflect images. Naturally you should see thousandsâ€"millions of mirrors scattered over the world, over the universe.”

“Wonderful.” I commented tersely before repeating in as commanding a tone I could muster “But where am I?”

I glared at the air surroundings me. As childish as it appeared, it helped add to my conviction. The voice would not answer, not after I repeated louder, after I screamed. This other voice, this other “person” had disappeared yet again, leaving me to my own devices.

Out of anger and confusion I whirled around punching with my right hand, I need to hit something!â€"and I yelped loudly as I realized that I had punched straight through the mirror of the Lylat System. Withdrawing my bleeding hand I looked at the shattered remains of the mirror. Had I destroyed the system? Without a second thought to my bleeding hand, I dove into the largest piece of the mirror.

However, I simply reappeared back in the space and cursing angrily I moved to attempt to enter another piece.

“Do not waste your time.” Came the voice. “You’re destroyed that part of the world, it is gone.”

“WHAT!?!?” I yelled in both fear and anger. I had destroyed a system! How did this power… come to me? I didn’t want it…

The voice continued “As keeper of the mirrors you have a responsibility to keep the mirrors working properly. Destroying the mirrors is generally a path avoided by the keeper.”

Stunned with the magnitude of what my actions now carried I spluttered “I didn’t mean to…”

But the voice interrupted. “But if that is the will of the keeper. So be it.”

I couldn’t hear more of this, I saw the closest mirror and I dashed towards it, ignoring the words of the voice behind me as I dove straight in. When I reappeared, tears had welled up in my eyes… I also realized with a shock that my right hand was still bleeding heavily, but what was more surprising was that I was back in my own house…

[blah54]

As soon as I found myself back in my own house, I immediately whirled around to look at the mirror which I had apparently travelled through. There was no sign of me passing through the mirror, and my reflection was my own reflection, it did not blink or gesture at me…

Feeling an uncomfortable stinging sensation, I looked at my hand, it was bleeding badly, clearly this had not been my imagination or how could I be bleeding? In confusion I simply stared blankly at the mirror before shaking my head and quickly heading for the bathroom to clean up my cut hand.

As I walked down the hallway to my bathroom, I gingerly held my hand; the glass from the mirror had cut my hand pretty badly. After washing my hand and wrapping some gauss around it, I moved to inspect myself in the mirror before I froze. I had no intention of being the “Keeper of the Mirrors” or whatever… I had to get to work, and quick, I guessed that I had probably been off in that mirror world for at least 30 minutes… My boss would kill me if I was late again today…

Hurrying to the front I grabbed the keys to my car, hurrying outside, slamming the door behind me I noticed that all the cars were still parked outside. “Odd…” I muttered. “Everyone’s usually gone by now…”

It was odd indeed, everyone who lives in my neighbourhood, this small, basic neighbourhood... Everyone left for work around the same time, or if they were parents they were leaving to take their children to school. Thoroughly confused, I glanced at my watch and was surprised to see that it still read 7:00 AM. There was no way that could’ve happened, it wasn’t possible, there’s no way to ‘stop’ time! I had finished breakfast around 7:00 AM! How could it still be that same time after my whole time in that mirror world!?

Cursing under my breath I still got into my car and drove off towards work. Being early would do no harm for me or for my boss. There was no way that no time had passed during my stay in that mirror world… Shaking my head, I repeated to myself slowly in my head: Forget about that mirror world, stop reliving childish fantasies! I clung to that statement as I drove down the streets into the heart of the city.

Arriving at the office I parked the car in the underground lot before heading for the elevator. The parking lot was empty. I suppose I had come a little early, but I still spotted some cars placed in various places in the parking lot. Heading into the small terminal to wait for the elevator, I leaned casually against the wall yawning. I had not slept very well the past night, the television had been blazinâ€"

“What the hell!?” I exclaimed as I started to feel myself being pulled into the wall. Glancing over my shoulder just before I found myself entering the wall completely, I realized that I had been leaning against none-other than another mirror. Cursing my luck I tried to resist the pull, but it was too strong and within seconds I was flung back into the mirror worldâ€"I assumed so at least. I could barely see in front of me, everything was a thick fog… Turning around I saw that the mirror I had entered through was still there, and with no desire to remain here, I jumped back through, reappearing in the elevator terminal just as someone opened the door to enter the terminal…


Note: I don't know if anyone actually reads this... But I plan on continuing this story and I'd like some suggestions for names for the protagonist, I'm making him out to be a young guy just out of college... unless of course others are going to continue the story as well, then the only thing we should do is ensure consistency!

[Concerto No.20 in D minor]

It was my friend that I had met on my first day of work.  He was carrying a huge box of papers.  (okay for the record, I'm too tired to continue...its 5am...no sleep...need sleep....but, please continue this story.  from now on only serious posts will be accepted in this story.  I will soon make up a new story for a silly story, so we can have a funny story and a serious story going on at the same time....but as I said.....SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.)

[BonusPwnage]

Note: Are you still doing this? Because I just saw the date, it was from about four years ago. If your not, then just disregard this post. But I want to continue the story anyways. Here you go then-

"Hey," I said to him. He quickly rushed past me, not looking i my direction. "Hey!" I called after him. He stopped for a moment, but then went on, at a slower rate.

I pondered why he ignored me throughout the work day. Well, it's not like I had anything better to do. My job isn't the most exciting in the world, if you know what I mean. I finally caught up with him in the break room at around noon. He was sitting in one of those uncomfortable folding chairs, with an emotionless expression on his face. He wasn't doing much, he was just reading some papers in front of him. The box he was carrying earlier was also on the table.

Taking a closer look, I saw that the box was still almost full of papers. It amazed me that my friend could move it so easily. It was almost strange; He's not really the muscular type. I was unaware that I was literally leaning over his shoulder looking into the box until he said, "What are you doing?"

"I was just, um, uh..." I couldn't really make an excuse. I'm not very good at improvising. "That's personal!" He cries, picking up the box and pushing it under the table. His voice cracked, something that only happens when he's nervous. He put his head close to his papers, pretending to be doing something important. After a minute or so of this, I finally responded with, "What happened this morning with you? What was that all about?"

No response. I expected as much. Taking a closer look at him, an odd thought occurred to me. He was somehow familiar. This sounds odd, since I already know him. But I mean he was familiar from something else. He was fairly tall, a little skinny, just like any other normal person. His clothing was normal. Well, except for the fact that a lot of his shirts have the letter G on the back of them. But I don't know the reason for that since he never told me.

"I've got to go, break's over," he muttered. How convenient for you, I thought. In one swift motion, he gathered up his papers, backed out of his chair, and brought out the box from under the table. As he hurried away, I got one last glance of the box.

I saw a couple of letters and words on the box, but could only make out an S, and the word "Key". I took a quick glance at the papers, and to my surprise they were slightly ajar. I don't know why I hadn't realized it before, but I came to the conclusion then and there: Something's underneath those papers.

Actually, judging by the sounds coming from the box as my friend hurried away, there was more than one "something" under the papers. I tried to listen more closely, to see what kinds of objects were in the box, but another sound came to my ears. This new sound was smooth, but hard to make out. I turned back on my friend, only to see that he was already gone.

By then, other workers had come into the break room, but none of them seemed to notice the noise that I was hearing. It sounded almost like someone whispering. Yes, as I listened, it became clear. The whisperer was telling me to come closer. The voice became louder as I neared the bathroom. At the door, the voice was at shouting volume, but it was still whispering somehow. It's hard to explain, but at any rate it didn't seem to welcoming. Let me confess: I was genuinely frightened to go inside. Pulling together every ounce of courage I had inside of me, I burst inside of the door.

No one was there. The whispering had stopped. The stalls were empty. It was all in my head. Or so I presumed. I was still tired. I looked into one of the mirrors above a sink. Wow. I was a mess. I still had bags under my eyes. My collar was wrinkled and my face was drenched in sweat. The hairs on my head were completely out of shape. I rinsed my face in water to wake me up a little more. When I looked up from the sink, I didn't see my dirty reflection anymore. What I saw was not like anything I had ever seen. For many nights to come, I had nightmares based on this horrific image, this image looking at me right in the face, looking into my soul.

[Yugi]

Hello, what you just did was a bump, don't do that again.
Let's have this topic die.

[BonusPwnage]

Why?

[Yugi]

It has not been posted in for 4 years now.

[BonusPwnage]

Okay. It hasn;t been posted for four years...and what? Just because it's an old post, you're saying I can't continue it?

[EFitTrainr]

I don't see anything wrong with it.

[Yugi]

He did a 4 year bump, if this wasn't stickied that would be bad.

[K-NiGhT]

He did a 4 year bump, if this wasn't stickied that would be bad.

Not necessarily. It kinda depends on the subject of the thread. If it's a story that can't easily be replaced and can still be built on like this one, then it's fine. Now, if it was a topic about something that died 4 years ago, that would be a different story.

(Get it? Story? I crack myself up...)