“Quickly, Sancho!” I cried. “We need a young priest and an
old priest!”
Twisting the cap off of the bottle of soda, I began to chant
“The Power of Christ compels you, the power of Christ compels you!” as I splashed
the window with Holy Dew.
I looked back at Sancho, still seated on the couch, now on
his phone. “Dude”, he started, “I don’t
know what the fuck is happening, but this is going on YouTube tonight.”
“The power of Chri-“
“Enough!”
My reflection cut me off in mid chant.
Not knowing what else to do, and running low on soda, I sat down
next to Sancho on the couch.
“Alright,” I said. “What
do you want from me?”
“What any caged animal wants” he replied. “Freedom. A life
beyond the mirror. An escape from the
servitude of reflection.”
I said, “Freedom? No problem”. I waved my arms expansively
and said, “You’re free.”
“Done and done” added Sancho. “I know a guy who can get you
a fake ID; we’ll get you a job at the mall, maybe at that pretzel place. You can get us ten percent off. Your name
will be Scooter.”
 |
| Mmmmm. Pretzels. |
“Who do you know that can get fake IDs?” I asked.
“Just…this guy, alright” he replied. “Look, don’t call me on
this shit, okay? I'm just spit-balling here.”
“Silence!” shouted my doppelgänger.
“I want more than just a life. I want what you've never
used, what you've never wanted”
“My copy of Twilight that Sancho gave me?” Under his breath,
I heard my friend say “go fuck yourself”.
“Your life” said
Scooter, the doppelgänger.
I gulped hard. “What
are you talking about?”
“You walk through this world like a ghost” he said. “You have no purpose, no motivation, and no
goals. You live your life at a bare
minimum. You have the skill and talent
to do so much more and yet you refuse. You
play at being confident and self-assured, successfully hiding the fact that you
feel worthless and alone in the world. Your
apathy has caused you to push away anyone who might have got close to you over
the years. There are many who would be
your friend if you let them, but you choose only one, Sancho, and only because he’s
been around more or less consistently for over twenty years.”
“You think you’re laying some grand truth on me?” I said,
trying not to appear shaken. “I know what
I am and I know what I’m capable of. And
my apathy means I don’t give a shit what you think. Besides, if I’m as pathetic as you say, what
does that make you?”
“Lucky” he said. “It’s
your lack of belief in yourself that allowed me to be born. It’s making me stronger even now.”
Indeed, as he spoke, the translucent reflection was becoming
sharper, more defined. I felt a wave of nausea
and my vision became blurred.
“I may not be using much of my life right now” I said, my words
beginning to slur. “But I’ll be goddamned if I'm going to let you have it!”
“What’s happening?” I heard Sancho ask weakly. I turned towards him in time to see him vomit
on my laptop.
Will the Geek Squad
take care of that? I thought.
 |
| Geek Squad. For $30 they'll turn on your computer. |
“He coming through again,” I managed to say as I moved drunkenly
to pick up my laptop. Vertigo was
slowing overcoming my motor functions.
Through blurred vision, I could see that his hand had already made it
across the windows barrier.
Summoning what strength I could, I flung the laptop at the
window, screaming, “An Apple a day keeps the doctor away, bitch!”
The window shattered into a dozen pieces, a hollow scream
from Scooter as his image was destroyed; the laptop landed with a crash in the
bushes outside.
“That quip made no sense” said Sancho. “That wasn't even a Mac. It was Compaq.”
“Whatever” I said. I wasn't listening. On the floor beneath the window was Scooters
hand, flecks of vomit dotting the appendage; the only piece of him that came
through before I broke the window.
Turning back to Sancho, I said “We’re gonna need a bigger
boat.”
To Be Continued...
JrX
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