CHAPTER 8 - A REFLECTIVE CONVERSATION
“And you seriously brought the mirror home?” My reflection let out a chuckle. “You’re an idiot.”
“Well, whatever,” I said, “do you believe me now?”
“I guess so. You don’t really sound like some mirror monster, but I suppose I wouldn’t really know what one would even sound like.”
“Don’t worry, I ain’t.”
“So, are you going to try to eat me?”
“Eat you?” I couldn’t help but shout the question. I was getting tired of the monster accusations. “Look. I just said I’m not a monster, okay? I don’t eat people. Even if I was some mirror demon, mirrors don’t even have teeth to eat nobody.”
He didn’t respond right away like he was thinking what to say next carefully. “Alright, fine. Even if you were a monster of some sort, you seem afraid enough of my gun that I could take you down either way.”
Was I this arrogant, too? “Yeah, yeah. Just try not to shoot me anymore, will ya?”
“Sure.”
“I’m going to lift the mirror now, okay?
“Go right ahead.”
I stood the mirror back up and made sure not to be in front of it, just in case my reflection wasn’t so keen on keeping their word.
I heard a sigh from the mirror. “I’m not going to shoot you, okay? You can pop your face out now.”
Taking a quick peek from the side, I didn’t see a gun pointed at me, but you never know how quick a gunslinger could draw til they did…
Moving the mirror in front of my bed, I took a seat on the mattress. My reflection did the same. It felt so uncanny to see my mirror image move without me taking a single action.
He spoke first, “So, what’s going to happen here?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean we have a mirror that’s practically a portal to another world, albeit a very similar world.”
“Let’s see how similar it actually is, then. You a deputy, like me?”
“Sure am. On my way to being the sheriff. You a good shooter like me?”
I hesitated to answer, unsure of whether or not it was wise to show weakness, but I had also already gone this far. Besides, by the look of my revolver I had tossed earlier, he missed. If he was truly as good as I was with my right hand, he wouldn’t have.
“No, not anymore.”
“What happened?”
I waved my bandaged right hand. “It got burned. Bad.”
In turn, he raised his left palm to me. It was red from burns, similar to mine. “Me too.”
“Lucky it was your off-hand, then.”
“What?” he questioned with wide eyes. “You’re not left-handed?”
“No, are you?”
Stolen story; please report.
“Yeah, I am.”
What a twisted fate. Even in another dimension, my best hand was torched. “So, why’d you say you were a good shooter earlier?”
“Just in case you’d have stuck on that weakness and tried killing me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not a monster.”
“A man can still kill.”
My eyes narrowed at his words. “Sure can… but I’m not trying to kill you.”
“What a coincidence, then. We both need the hand the other has.”
“So, how bout people? You also got a fat jerk as a coworker?”
“Bob?” He smiled. “That guy was the most annoying person I knew. Sadly, he’s gone now.”
“Oh really? What happened?”
“Got a little too nosy with the wrong crowd. It was too late for me to save him, unfortunately.”
His words were so vague, but I didn’t want to push in deeper, though. I had him talking peacefully, and I liked to keep it that way. “James? You said you were on your way to being sheriff. Did he quit in your world?”
“No, not yet. He’s just retiring soon. Bob’s death had an effect on him, so I’m taking over.”
“Even with your best hand out of commission?”
“I’ll just have to try to get better with this one.” He shook his right hand.
“How about Jane? You have one there?”
The moment I said her name, there was a glint in his eyes, like a newly-lit lamp.
I don’t know why, but it didn’t feel right.
“Yeah, she was a real beauty. I miss her, though,” he said quietly.
“What happened?”
“She moved. Family troubles back home. Yours?”
“Staying over at the big city for a while,” I lied.
I didn’t like his answer about Jane as much as the one with Bob. Everything he’s told me so far has been so non-specific. Why the need to hide?
I decided not to push on it at the moment. I wanted this guy to keep on talking, not see me as an enemy he needed to put down, so I moved on to another topic. “I wonder why this mirror was given to me.”
“Why don’t you try asking the guy that sold it to you?” he asked.
My mouth opened to talk, but nothing came out. He was right. That was the most valuable person I should’ve been talking to at the moment.
Why did a guy like that have a magical mirror?
My reflection must’ve noticed my agape mouth doing zero talking. “You’re kind of slow, huh?”
“I guess so,” I said. “Look, I’m gonna go meet him for now. Talk later?”
“Sure, tonight, then. I needed to take care of some other stuff, too.”
“Tonight? It’s already night.”
“Must be another mirror reversal thing, because it’s day for me.”
“Well, we’ll talk when I wake up, then.”
“Whatever works,” he said.
I kicked the mirror down back to the floor. I might’ve had a conversation with the guy, but that didn’t mean I fully trusted him either.
Having a doppelganger run around would be real annoying.
Exiting my house, I returned to the merchant tents.
My eyes wandered for what felt like an hour, but I couldn’t see the strange man’s tent no more.
I entered one of the tents that had been nearby at the time, and an old man greeted me this time. “Hello, sir. We’re actually closing for now. You can come check us out in the morning.”
“It’s not that. I was just meaning to ask you if you knew what happened to the other tent that had been here about an hour ago. It was kind of isolated away from the rest of the tents.”
He gave me a confused look. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about? My tent’s on the farthest edge of this little ‘market’.”
“No, that can’t be right. I visited one just an hour ago. I swear.”
“Sorry, then, sir. It must’ve left.”
Well, this sucked.