Leaking Sides

 “Never thought of it to be like this before. You get what I mean?” She writes on the white board with a marker just refilled I guess as it smeared across the white plane like mud on a plane sheet.

“Yeah, I do. Do one thing then sis.” I write and look up at her shining reflection through my hand prints filled mirror, for a gesture of ‘you understand?’ she pulled up a thumbs up in return.

It wasn’t like in five years or in the duration of my whole life that I would have thought of experiencing a parallel life of my own self. I had heard and read about mirror worlds in so many things like magazines, cartoons, google, astronomy and psychology books, etc. but never believed it until 2 weeks ago.

I was crying in front of the mirror on a fuzzy breakup, when I first time saw a thin partition inside my mirror, looking deep and lost in my eyes. I furrowed my brow on the discovery and tried to pull upon the cut slice. To my horror it came off at once and I was face to face with someone who had pretty normal eyes than mine and was smearing lipstick on her puckered lips while she looked quite young, around 26, like me.

I wanted to find the person who gave me this mirror but remembered I borrowed it from my dying mother. When she passed, all of her belongings, I took it with myself back to my own world which was fragile without her, but not so now I guess. I have found a companion.

We both were startled to see each other and I was still holding on to the parted slice of mirror in my hand revealing a whole new mirror world. But after some time of staring, I believe we both knew who we were, just different times, and two different worlds.

“Going somewhere?”

“Yeah; why are you crying though?”

“Nothing, just a shitty breakup.”

“From Max?”

I widened my eyes. “How did you know?”

“Ah, I guess some people are same in your and my worlds.”

“True. Which planet?” I seem so casual while freaking out from inside.

“Earth-B12. You?”

“Earth-B6.”

“Oh, one around the Tritis star. Great view for the night, right?”

“Uh-huh. You know how many parallels out there then?”

“Of course, we studied in astronomy in grade 10^th.”

“Oh, cool then. Advanced world yours is.”

“Hmm. Got to go, see you soon.”

“You too.” I was about to leave but asked in time. “Where you going by the way?”

“For a reunion party.”

“In Dallas-D12?”

“Yes, why?”

“Don’t go!!” I was alarmed. “It is going to be such a shitty party, just don’t go. I have and it didn’t turn out well enough. Everyone’s a snake now, just don’t.”

“Seriously? What happened?”

“You are going to meet some trash friends there who won’t let you leave. You see this scar.” I held up my right elbow to show her the deep gash running diagonal to the bony end. “I got it from a fight with them. I don’t want to disclose, but just don’t go.”

“Like the ‘so far, so long’ you wrote?”

“Yes, exactly. Just don’t.”

“Waste of $200 makeup.” And she went off the bathroom to wash, I know from the running water.

I also left my dressing seat then, replacing the mirror piece back to where it was.

Since the first interaction through tears of mine meeting a prettier through makeup version of mine, we talk sometimes, when we need help or want to know what is happening next in life for the same choices we make sometimes leading to things happening in different timelines.

But there is a change in profession too, I am a 24 hour painter, selling paintings for magazines, museums, online manga series, selling wallpapers to different application, painting wall designs for big company showrooms or office rooms, and all the other places where paintings are treasured as an escape from reality living from here to there.

While she is a narcissistic actress, doing so many popular television shows and movies sometimes, but mostly on air or web trains. Her latest hit was that she starred in ‘Evelyn’s secret diary’ which is massive hit of all time on television, charting from the top series to sweeping all awards in every field. It was a story about a girl who wrote her diary every day, and every single night by then, someone wrote a little more with a red pen below where she left. And the anonymous writing was always incomprehensible and invisible to Evelyn but visible to the viewers

I never imagined a version of mine to be so weird. I am just the opposite for sure, but she behaves sometimes a little strange, so I am slowly increasing the distance.

Once, she called me at 2200 at night to talk about a tour in museum I have been to and sold my paintings there too. I showed up and she told me she was feeling a bit unwell. After a while of sitting in silence on the unpleasant-unwell ambience, she shrieked so loudly, I could hear a crack in my large glass window beside.

“What happened?” I asked hastily.

“Someone’s in my room. Someone’s in HERE!!”

“Who??” And suddenly I heard a loud knocking on my door. It was so chaotic in the moment.

“Just hide in somewhere. Quick!!” And I saw that she already left the screen. I touched the mirror if something could come in from there but no, it only left a lot sweaty handprints on the mirror of mine. Then I got up from my seat to see who was banging at the door, but no one was there whom I could see. I turned and froze the moment I saw a cat walking in to the corridor leading to my room.

How did she get in? I wondered.

Then I followed her to let her leave from the other side of the door, but she sat on my dressing table as I walked in. The cat stared right through the mirror and got in through the shining surface. I ran to look inside the mirror and saw a man holding the cat, dressed in ragged clothes, almost like a beggar.

He was patting the cat, and when he realized the presence of mine, he looked at me and gave me a wicked grin before fading out of sight.

If this is it, if this is something related. I don’t know who else is lurking in the shadows of my house.

Then I heard a voice from the corridor, a voice so familiar but lost, broken, fragile.

And I said to the darkening door, “who is there?”