13 - The Reflection That Wasn't Mine: When the Mirror Shows You More Than You Bargained For

The Reflection That Wasn't Mine: When the Mirror Shows You More Than You Bargained For We are told that a mirror simply shows us what is there—a perfect, unfeeling duplicate of reality. A trick of light on silvered glass. But stand before one in the dead of night, when the house is groaning around you and the only light is a low, humming bulb, and you begin to wonder. You begin to see the flaws, the distortions. You begin to feel like you are not looking at a reflection, but through a window. And something is looking back. A person looking into a dark, dusty bathroom mirror, where their reflection is subtly, menacingly wrong. I used to love the quiet of my house after midnight. The peace was a balm. But that was before the night the bathroom mirror decided to break the rules. It was late, the kind of tired that settles deep in your bones. I was leaning over the sink, water running, the motions of brushing my teeth automatic, thoughtless. That’s when I saw it. A flicker. A motion i...