Reflection (stort story, unfinished) It was like any other Wednesday afternoon. I had slept in for the entire day. I woke up feeling oddly blank and empty, almost as if I had lost something very precious. I reached out for my phone but couldn’t find it on the bedside table. I must have misplaced it somewhere again. I After several failed attempts to fall back into sleep, I decided to get up. The sun was almost settling to tuck itself in for the day. I got up to turn on the lights, and I noticed something strange. Am I still dreaming? There was no reflection of me in the wardrobe mirror. I must be half asleep. I stepped closer. I blinked, rubbed my eyes. Maybe my eyes are hazy from sleeping the whole day. But no- the pile of clothes behind me had a reflection. I didn’t. I touched the glass, and the cool surface pressed against my skin. The sensation was too real to be a dream. Yet there was no reflection. Panic surged through my veins as I rushed into the bathroom. I splashed my face with water and rubbed my eyes raw, a little too afraid to look at the mirror again. Eyes closed, I took a deep breath. Forced myself to open my eyes. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Again and again, I splashed water on my face. I must wake up. The wall behind me, the towel hanging — all visible through the mirror. But not me. As if the world had erased me from my existence, but forgot to remove my consciousness. …….. Head buried in my hands, I was sitting near the dining table, completely exhausted. I turned the whole place upside down, yet I couldn’t find my phone. It was right in my hands before I fell asleep. Surely it hadn’t grown a pair of legs and run away just like my reflection..? Right? Then, the front door clicked open. A girl who looked exactly like me stepped inside. She smiled, looking at me at first, but then it slowly evaporated as she scanned the place. Drawers and cabinets were flung open, and items placed in odd places. You’d think someone robbed the house. For the first time, I had felt ashamed of my mess. Such an uncanny feeling- to be perceived and judged by someone who is you. A sigh escaped through her. Like a mother who was tired of her child's behaviour. “I was gone for only a couple of hours. Do you know how long it took for me to clean this place?” Her voice, the way she sighs, everything, it’s all the same. That’s me right there. If it were someone else, I would have fought back. But the pure horror and shock of it all seized my entire system. I couldn’t register anything. My eyes dropped to the floor, and I discovered she had a shadow. I didn’t.