Man in the Mirror

Man in the Mirror

by luminous1

993 words

Leonard jumped, his head throbbing against his skull. His eyes widened, the man sitting on his oak rocking chair had his red hair, his seven-foot height, and his lanky frame.

Blinking, his head throbbed again. He had little recollection of the night, except the sight of Cumulonimbus clouds and rain pelting on his face. Yet there his clone sat, still as a statue, his eyes hidden beneath a bowler hat—a hat Leonard owned.

“You,” he mumbled, pointing at his replica. “Are me?” His hand shook.

“Yes,” his clone said.

Leonard’s insides were jumping and screaming, his throbbing head recovering. He ran into his office, and pulled out his laptop. He couldn't be sure. Had the test worked? He wondered. The single test. He grinned, pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

He handed one to his clone, who ducked his head through the door. The clone flinched and shook his head. “S-Sorry, smoking can kill you. Where I live, we had an epidemic. Let's just say, I don't want to do that again.”

Leonard shrugging, finding himself grinning, his eyes gaze at his own resemblance. It was incredible, every detail, every aspect of his body was the same. The curly red strings of hair, the seven-feet and one inch, the clear blue eyes—it was remarkable.

After hours examining books on Earth's matter and the endless electrical signals raging through the world. He had always thought he would retire as the “obnoxiously tall guy,” who didn't realize his calling for basketball in his high school days. For hours, he had mulled over the faintest possibility the world was more than a single side of the cube. A cube has eight faces, why couldn't the world?

As it turned out, he was right. He was right. The proof was standing before him. “Well, uh ... Leonard ... that is your name, yes?”

“Of course, as is yours.”

He ran over to the man, whisking into the man's hand the care package he had created for alternate dimension traveling. It came with thousands of downloadable files of cultural music, valuable information, and world events of the last century. “Well, Leonard, I think you need a tour of our dimension. First, we have to visit the White House, definitely NASA, maybe the Smithsonian and World History Museum. You might also enjoy the Zoo. Oh, the endless intricacies of the creatures. Please do me the honor of giving you a tour.”

“Leonard, there's no time.” For the first time, he noticed dark circles under his clone's eyes and thin lines creasing his forehead. And there was something beneath the blue eyes, a fire, cutting through the clear blue.

“What, why?” His hopes squished like he was mud caked on the back of a shoe.

“My visit is not for pleasantries.” The replica sat on his pile of newspapers, which he collected daily.

“Please get off those.” The replica stood, and Leonard grabbed his neatly piled papers and placed them safely in a cabinet. They were valuable to him. In case someone else solved the case of space in time before himself, he could pin their name on the “Most Wanted to send to another dimension” category on his wall.

He examined the figure before him, realizing he hardly knew the person before him. The way the man stood straight, his hands clasped together, and those clear blue with fire cutting through.

“As I was saying, my visit is a necessity. As you might have guessed, I am yourself, but I am you in a dimension dying.” His legs paced throughout the room, hands behind his back, like he was conducing a business meeting. “With superior technology, I have traced the impending destruction to October 17th, at 2:26 PM. In five hours and 12 minutes, you will destroy my dimension's race.”

“No-no, I wouldn't do that.” Head still hurt, what had Leonard done last night? All he remembered was staring at the clouds, and the rain. Sweet poured down his face, the red, red was burning through the clear blue.

“Why is unknown to us. All we know, you must be eliminated.” His voice sounded robotic like a programmed message. The replica Leonard pulled out a gun, his hands curved around the handle. He aimed at Leonard's face.

Leonard raised his hands, legs shaking. The overly confident, unflinching man before him did not have blue eyes. “Have you used a gun before?”

“Not until today.” The clone grinned—a clone, not Leonard, but who was he. Leonard racked his brain, what had he done last night? Clouds, sky, rain, he knew there was something more.

He closed his eyes, trying to remember. He went over it again: clouds, sky, rain, gusts of rain, and then—nothing. Clouds, sky, gusts of rain, and then?

“I apologize for any inconvenience. You are not an asset.”

Through the window, he saw the sun shining like a beam. A beam, that was it. A light. Lightning? No. It wasn't lightning.

“Good-bye,” the clone said.

It was like the sun. It was a beam—a beam from the sky. His eyes narrowed. He had been wrong all along.

“I know what you are!” Leonard said, before the gun fired into his gut.

On the news, reports were filed that a flood of people twins were popping up across the city. These twins were said to be killing their other twin and leaving them for dead. Then, the replicas disappeared, all that remained was the mutilated faces of millions.

In breaking news, the report found a witness claim the replica morphed into a creature-like figure.

Yesterday, it was reported beams of light were blowing through the sky in major cities like New York and Los Angeles. The figures appearing through them. The President has issued a warning: “They are invading, take cover.”