“Once you do this, you can never go back. You understand?” A voice in her head that sounded much like her younger brother told her as she looked over the railing into the raging waters below. What is there to go back to? They don’t need me, no one does. What’s the point? Crouching down she shut her eyes, trying to fight the storm inside her mind. There’s no use, I can’t do anything, it’ll never change! Straightening herself back up, she leaned over the railing. She could hear the voices of her friends and family inside her head, warring and conflicted. “Go ahead, just do it!” turning into “no, please, don’t!” turning into “you’ll be doing us a favour!” She thought about when she was a little girl, her father teaching her to ride a bicycle, her mother placing a kiss on her knee after she’d scraped it falling out of a tree, weekends helping out on her grandparents farm, playing hide and seek with her brother, the time her soccer team won the regional championship… She thought about the time she and her friends drove two states over for a Lady Gaga concert, and last Valentine’s Day when her boyfriend surprised her with a candlelight picnic… They need me. Then her thoughts turned to the bullies throughout her school years and all the things they used to say to her, how they must have been true, the fact that she couldn’t even keep her hamsters alive, and she thought about her dead end service job… No they don’t. She should be crying, she thought, but all she could feel was numb, there were no tears left to cry; there’s no point. She climbed over the railing, keeping her grip tight. She pictured her loved ones, imagining their reactions- their agonized faces, shattered with grief and heartbreak, before they morphed into relief and apathy. She thought about what it would feel like to let herself fall, how long the pain would last, would it ever truly end? What of the afterlife, what would I be condemning myself to? And what if she didn’t? What if she climbed back up, went home to her family? Would they be relieved, would they have even noticed she left? Would they care? What of the years to come, could they be better, would it be more of the same, does it even matter? Does anything matter? She looked up to the night sky, the vast endlessness of the stars stretching out above her. Once you do this, you can never go back. She looked back down at the water raging below.

“You look ravishing as always,” the man says as he holds out his hand. “Thank you,” the woman replies with a sly smile, taking his hand. They dance strategically around the palace’s ballroom, moving closer and closer to a side entry. “Are you ready?” She whispers in his ear. He nods once, and she pulls out a compact mirror, pressing the button hidden inside. Two minutes later, one of the smaller chandeliers on the opposite side of the room explodes into tiny pieces. The pair takes advantage of the chaos, moving through the door and into the hallway, heading to the lower levels where they know the safe room to be. After emptying the safe’s contents, she kisses him. “I’m sorry” She says, taking one last look at his astonished expression as she pushes him back towards where the guards have appeared at the end of the hallway and runs.

“Come on, Aly, this way!” I tried to fight down an amused smile as I followed my younger sister Jane around yet another turn in the funhouse, this one towards the exit. “I still can’t believe you made us stop here. Eighteen years old, leaving for college in a month, and you choose to stop at some ridiculous roadside attraction.” I frown as we step outside only to be greeted by absolutely no one. Strange… I think to myself, but shrug it off as I drop a $5 bill into the ancient looking tip jar nailed to the wall beside the door before making our way across the deserted parking lot to my car. “Oh come on, it was fun! And isn’t that the point of this trip, fun? And to hang on to my childhood just a little bit longer?” She looked at me, her teasing smile hidden slightly behind a pout. “It’s a tourist trap, and that guy was a weirdo!” I grouched, before letting myself lose the fight and allowing a smile to finally break free across my face. “But you’re right, and it was fun.” “Ha!” She shouted in triumph, climbing into the passenger seat. “And alright, the dude could have eased up a little on his enthusiasm for wormholes or whatever, but it’s his job to sell it!” “A little?” I rolled my eyes and turned the key in the ignition. It wasn’t until approximately two hours later when the need for gas prompted me to look for a gas station that I realized how desolate this area seemed to be. Not only have I not seen another vehicle but I haven’t passed by anything that would imply the existence of human inhabitancy. No towns, no stray buildings or rest stops on the side of the highway… Looking around I didn’t even see power lines or telephone poles. Panic started to set in as the needle got closer to the ‘empty’ line. Finally, as if by magic, a single building appeared just over the hill, the large sign reading ‘GAS’ feeling like the holy grail at that moment. I let out a sigh of relief as I pulled up to the pump before my car could die. After filling up the tank I roused Jane, telling her if she needs something to get it now because who knows when we might see another sign of life. “I’m not sure we’ve found one now…” she said skeptically, eyeing the rundown building. I laughed in agreement before heading in to pay. I was glad Jane opted to stay outside as the lone man at the counter looked at me appraisingly while I paid for the gas, some water, and a couple packs of rather strange looking jerky. “We don’t get many people round these parts.” He stated, eyeing me up and down. “Yeah, I’m getting that impression…” I replied, noting the decrepit state of the store. “Well, since the wars, there ain’t many people round anywhere.” He said, stepping a little closer. “The what?” I questioned blankly. “The Morbianic Wars? The Uprising? Wiped out a gigantic chunk of the human race about sixteen years ago…?” He spoke as if I should be locked up in an asylum. “Right…” I replied much the same way. “Well, thank you, but I’m just gonna…” I trailed off as I walked out the door. “Get in the car!” I snapped urgently towards my sister as I passed her. Fortunately she had the good sense not to argue. “Are you okay?” She asked as she slid into her seat. Peeling out of the lot and back onto the road I finally relaxed enough to respond. “Yeah, that guy was just… wacked out of his mind on something.” “Must have been something crazy, you look freaked!” I tried to keep calm for her, but staring out the window I started noticing things I hadn’t before, like the fact that the sky had a tinge of purple to the blue, and massive dead spots and what appeared to be burnt out rubble in the fields. It wasn’t until we finally came across the first sign of life since the gas station, what appeared to be a large black dog if it weren’t for the hooves and the horns suddenly bolting down a hidden path on the side of the road that I turned to see Jane staring back at me in shock. “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”

I walked briskly into my office building, my head still smarting where I’d fallen into the mirror earlier this morning. Silly really, I missed my alarm and woken up later than usual, and in my rush to get ready for the day ahead I’d tripped head first into the beautiful antique mirror I had purchased from a quaint little shop a few days ago. “Good morning, Janice!” I greeted the receptionist. Her puzzled expression should have been my first hint that something was off, but I’d barely noticed in my haste to get to the elevator. Getting off the elevator at the 13th floor, I made a quick stop at the break room for a much needed cup of coffee. However, as I reached for my favourite mug that I kept on the top shelf of the cupboard closest to the coffee machine, I saw that it was missing. No one had ever dared take my mug before! This should have been my second hint, but instead of heeding it I angrily filled another cup and stalked towards my office. Fortunately, it was not my favourite mug that fell from my hands as I opened the door and froze in shock. “Yes, Mr. Brighton, I will absolutely have that presentation ready for you on Thursday! Alright, see you then!” Came the voice from the brunette woman currently seated and typing away at my desk. My voice. “What in the-!?” “Excuse me, I’m in the middle of-“ The woman’s words cut off as she finally looked up from my computer, looking just as astounded as I was. “How- who-?” Unable to form words, I simply dropped onto the sofa against the wall nearest the door and stared into the frighteningly familiar blue eyes of my doppelgänger. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to settle myself, I tried to think of the most rational explanation- I was hallucinating. I had obviously hit my head harder than I’d realized that morning, and I have a concussion; that MUST be it. “I suppose I should have gone to the hospital after all.” “Sorry?” “This morning. I fell and hit my head against an old mirror, and now I’ve gone crazy; I should have gone to the hospital and gotten a CT scan.” “An old mirror? Large, oval, heavy ornamental gold frame?” “Yes, I bought it at a little antique shop on 16th and Main.” “A Past Life?” I nodded in confirmation. “You’re sure you bought this mirror there?” “Yes, of course I’m sure!” I snapped, not understanding why my hallucination seemed to be putting so much importance into the mirror and where I’d gotten it from. “I bought the same mirror, presumably at the same time, from the same place. The woman at the counter, she said-“ She hesitated, as if bracing herself against the impossibility of what she was considering “-she said it was cursed, that it’s “a mirror to the other side.”” I stared uncomprehendingly at her for a brief moment, before realization dawned on me and laughter bubbled it’s way up my throat. “You’re joking! You don’t truly believe in that sort of nonsense, do you?” “Do you have a better explanation for what’s going on?” She questioned. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do! I’ve already told you, I hit my head rather hard, and I’m concussed- that’s all!” “Are you so sure?” No. “Look, I don’t know what’s happening to me right now, all I know is I’ve suffered a head injury, and I clearly need some rest. I’m going to take the day off, go home, and get some rest, and then I will wake up to find this was all a ridiculous dream.” “Good luck!” She calls to me as I make my escape. “A hallucination, just a terrible, incredibly realistic nightmare!” I try to convince myself as I walk through my front door. I make my up the stairs to my bedroom, only to be stopped dead in my tracks for the second time today. There, on my wall, where my mirror sat perfectly fine and intact just this morning are the words ‘NO WAY HOME’ written in what appears to be black marker, and on the floor is my new mirror. Shattered.