The Move

(just a warning, if you have superstitions about breaking mirrors, or are sensitive to anything creepy, just, don't read this.)

she stares at the box
the boring brown, overly taped box, with her name on it

she sighs
and looks around the decrepit, badly wallpapered, filthy windowed room
the room she was forced to call her's
"it's a fixer uper," her parents had said

she sighs again.
walking out of the room, 
she stumbles over another box.

this one is smaller
has even more tape than the first
and a large FRAGILE!!! sticker slapped on the side 

she assumes it's her mother's china bowls 
and decides to unpack them for her
so she pulls a small knife out of her jeans pocket 
and starts slicing through the many layers of tape

slowly she pulls open the corrugated cardboard flaps 
and beholds
not a small collection of delicate blue and white dishes
as she had thought
but a mirror.

her refection stared up at her
eyes wide and curious 
as she reached out her hand
and gently removed it from it's thin wrapping of newspapers and bubble wrap

holding the mirror closer 
she noticed a tiny crack running down the center of it
intrigued she ran her finger along the crack 
and the realized her reflection wasn't copying her

it's face had turned sour
as it glared up at her
it's mouth moved 
but she couldn't hear anything 

that's when she saw the words
written slantedly across the reflective surface
 
you are just like me, 
they spelled out
letter by letter
Fragile. 

she was so startled by this message that she dropped the mirror
causing it to shatter into a million tiny pieces
her left thumb had grazed a sharp edge and started tingling 
the feeling spread 
from her thumb 
to her palm 
to her wrist

she scrambled backwards 
putting as much distance between herself and the broken glass on the floor as she could
but it didn't help her in the slightest 
she looked down at her tingling arm to see her entire hand was silverly, reflective, 
and laced with a thousand tiny cracks 

as she watched
transfixed with horror
her thumb shattered
sending serrated bitts of glass everywhere
some dug into her shirt
or her face

sending the tingly feeling everywhere
she screamed out in fear and pain
until all that was left was a pile of broken glass
and a mirror
with two tiny cracks 
running down the middle.

(this was inspired by the 'Sticker' promt, sugjested by Treblemaker, in the tiny writes section, so thank you Treblemaker!)


 

Inkpaw

VT

18 years old

More by Inkpaw

  • The Boxes In The Corner

    Looming over your shoulders

    Each stack higher than its former

    Every thought and every scrap

    Of an idea too scared to ponder

     

    Every moment that hurt

    Each minute that lingered longer

  • Inadequacy


    How do I push the words out
    From behind my taffy tongue 
    Thick with salty tears 
    And full of grubby thumb 


    I’m a child 
    Pretending that I’m numb 
    To escape the overwhelming feelings 

  • Paper Frogs

    Why

    When feet fall soft but quick 

    Does the hallway extend

    And the hot breath of whoever’s behind me feel hotter 

    Why do I stay pressed to the wall 

    Like a stubborn gruby sticker