The Reflection

The Reflection

A long time ago, when I was just a boy, in fact I do believe I was around your age, I knew a kid called Jimmy. Now, Jimmy was a pleasant little boy until a certain period in his life when things started to fall apart for him. The poor fellow. He would regularly get bad grades at school and was often scolded for being so clumsy. He didn’t have many friends if any at all, and people would tease him for being ‘fat’ ‘ugly’. I understand why he became so depressed. Anyway, this is his story...

Jimmy had just gotten out of his math class, the last subject of the day. He heaved a sad, heavy sigh and looked down at his test paper once again. ‘F’ ‘13%’ He grunted and got up slowly, ignoring all the snickering and whispering around him, no doubt about how he was such a failure. Or maybe it was simply the fact that he was so fat and ugly. That wouldn’t change. He was a fat, ugly, desperate failure! He scrunched up his test paper into a ball and shoved it into his bag angrily. If only… if only he was a little bit smarter, a little bit less fat, a little bit less clumsy all the time.

At that moment Penny Hamelin passed by and walked over casually to a group of girls in the corner. WOW. She was brilliant. Penny was famous for how she aced all her subjects without what seemed like any effort at all! And she was so beautiful. Jimmy stared mesmerized at her long blond hair and large almond shaped brown eyes. She turned around and gave Jimmy a look of disgust, only to turn back to her group of friends and start giggling. Jimmy flushed red and turned away. He picked up his bag and left the room.

He began his long, shameful trudge home.

“I’m back~” he mumbled, flinging the door open. What a relief. That was one tough day. Jimmy ran straight to the bathroom and closed the door shut. He looked at himself in the mirror. An obese, ugly schoolboy looked back at him with a glum expression plastered on his face. Jimmy closed his eyes tight and then opened them again. It didn’t help. He was still himself, a depressed loner with sad droopy features. He sucked in some air and tried desperately to reduce the amount of belly. That didn’t work either. He sat down and cried. The reflection did the same. A while later, he heard his mother calling.

“Jimmy~ Are you all right? What are you doing? Come on out of the bathroom!”

“I’m coming! Hold on” Jimmy stood up and did his best to dry his teary eyes. He was on the verge of opening the door— when he heard a voice.

“I could help you, you know.”

Jimmy stood stock still. What was that?

“I said, I can help you.” The mysterious voice repeated, louder this time. How strange. Could it be? That was no random voice. What he had just heard was an exact replica of his own, hoarse, weak voice. Yes. It was definitely the voice of Jimmy G. Parker without doubt. Horrified, Jimmy turned around slowly to face the mirror. And there he was. The reflection had spoken. With his mouth hanging open, Jimmy stared at the indistinguishable figure of himself. Suddenly, the fabric of the mirror seemed to waver and ripple like water. The figure too, began to change rapidly before Jimmy’s eyes. He suppressed a scream. And then, as suddenly as it began, everything stopped. All was still. Jimmy blinked in a dreamlike haze. For, in the mirror, stood a handsome boy! He wasn’t very big; in fact, he didn’t seem to be even half Jimmy’s size. Despite

this, there was something about the general appearance of the boy that seemed to make him reach an impossible perfection unattainable by human standards. Jimmy just couldn’t figure out what. He looked so innocent and sweet. Maybe it how the boy’s large grey eyes sparkled in the light or how his wide charming smile stretched across his perfectly symmetrical face…

Jimmy just continued to gape, awestruck by the mysterious figure.

“Wh—who, what are you?” he finally managed to gasp.

“Who am I? Who am I?? Why. I am you! You are me! I am Ymmij*, your opposite image!” His voice was silvery and had a melodious air to it. He continued. “I can help you when in distress; solve all your problems in a flash. You can be beautiful! You can be smart! You can be slim!”— And here his voice dropped low to a soft whisper— “And you can be popular at school, never considered a fool, ever again!”

Jimmy’s once horrified expression, slowly but surely, changed, and a disbelieving, jubilant smile spread across his face.

“Will you really? This can’t be true!” Jimmy was over the moon.

“Of course my boy, now, all I ask for in return, is for you to turn that frown upside down, smile and laugh as much as you can! You see, Jimmy, reflections feed on laughter and joy. It is their life, and source of wellbeing. And one last thing. Listen hard. I want you, to stay with me, here in this room at quarter to three, from Saturday noon to Sunday evening. Play with me, make me glad, and fill me up with bliss! It’s a win win situation! You get all that you’ve ever wished for, and I get inner joy and content.” He ended his long speech, eyes gleaming and smiling so hard you could practically see the joy exploding out of him.

As for Jimmy, his eyes were growing wider and wider by the second. He was barely conscious of the world around him. Excitement was spinning around his head. He felt faint.

“Of course I will! I’ll do anything for this to be true! In fact, I could stay here all next weekend too!” Jimmy exclaimed.

“Then so it will be. Your wish is granted. Wake up tomorrow and you will be changed!” And with a quick flash of a smile Ymmij disappeared and Jimmy saw once again, is own reflection, grinning madly. He was going to be smart! And popular! YESS!!

“Jimmy, come out this instant! Do you hear me?! NOW!! It’s almost dinner time! What do you think you are doing in there?”

“Coming mom~” Jimmy raced to the kitchen, and for the first time in a very long time, actually hugged his dumbfounded mother before rushing off again to finish his homework.

That night, Jimmy dreamed of Ymmij casting a mysterious spell, changing Jimmy into the popular, smart boy promised.

And sure enough, in the morning, Jimmy woke up looking amazing and feeling wonderful and smart. It had worked! It had really worked! Jimmy almost ran right over his poor startled mother.

“Mom! Look at me! Don’t I look great? Look at all the weight I’ve lost!”

“Did you? Well that’s good you think so. I didn’t notice anything, honey.” She smiled.

“But look! I’m so slim!” Jimmy was puzzled. Surely…It occurred to him that now that he was changed, everyone else would have remembered him like this from the very beginning.

“Jimmy, are you alright? I’m a little worried.” His mother was looking at him with sympathetic concern.

“I’m fine.” Jimmy chuckled and went away to get ready for school.

Ding, dong, ding, dong~ Jimmy took a deep breath, and beaming, walked into the classroom. Immediately, a group of girls gasped and blushed red. He had to admit, he did look smashing.

“Hey.” Jimmy turned around. What happened next seemed almost unreal. He couldn’t believe it. For, standing right in front of him was none other than Penny Hamelin!

“So, um… I just wanted to ask, would you happen to be free next week? I was thinking… you know. Could we like, go out some time? Well, actually I’ve been meaning to ask…” She seemed embarrassed, even a little nervous!

Jimmy stared flabbergasted at the beautiful girl in front of him. Penny Hamelin had asked him out! Penny Hamelin! Everything around Jimmy started spinning and he buzzed with excitement. He struggled to find his voice, and tried to act cool.

“If you’re not free… It’s—” Penny started to mumble disappointedly and turned to walk away.

“No, no! I’m free! Next week. How’s Sunday?” Jimmy interrupted, pulling her back.

“Sure! We’ll meet in the park. 12:30.” She smiled and walked away coolly.

Jimmy was ecstatic. And he stayed that way all that day, and the next, up until Sunday, filled with excitement and worry about what to say and wear on the date. That was all he could possibly think about for those few days. A date with PENNY HAMELIN!

It was all too late when Jimmy finally remembered his promise to Ymmij. He and Penny had just finished their very successful date and Jimmy was walking home slowly, daydreaming about the day’s events and smiling to himself, when he remembered. First, he felt a sharp pang of guilt. How could he have been so self absorbed?? He checked his watch. The green numbers glowed 6:28, as if purposely tormenting him. He hadn’t played with Ymmij all day yesterday, or today. It was too late now. There were only a few hours until dark. Jimmy ran non-stop all the way home, the whole time dreading what would happen next. He ran straight to the bathroom.

“I—I’m so— so sorr—” he started to say, gasping for breath, when he stopped suddenly. The creature in the mirror was monstrous. It did not resemble Ymmij one bit. There were deep purple rings that looked more like gashes under each eye and his entire head was black and swollen. The figure which was once Ymmij was slumped against the wall in the mirror and looked as if the life had been squeezed out of his drooping body and broken limbs. Jimmy stood shocked at the sight.

Suddenly, the creature’s head turned abruptly to look at Jimmy in the eye. An evil smile spread across the creature that had once been Ymmij’s face. Jimmy felt horror creep up along his back and hit him smack bang in the face. The door was locked, but even if it had been open Jimmy couldn’t have gotten out, he was frozen stiff.

“You broke your promise, didn’t you?” The creature sneered. “You broke your promise. And I happened to be waiting here for you the whole time. The whole time you were on that date. I was waiting here! But did you care? No! You didn’t give a second thought about me, the mere reflection, right? Right? What do you think made it possible for you to go on the date anyway? What do you think made you smart? And popular? And good looking? Me! It was all thanks to me! Me, ME, ME!!!” He spat out in pure distain.

“You reckoned that I couldn’t do anything about it because I don’t really exist. I’m just a slave, and you, my master can do whatever.” His voice gradually rose until the whole room seemed to vibrate at the sound.

“But no! I won’t let that happen! I’m sick and tired of being neglected and controlled. Sick of it! All those years!! And now, you break a promise. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back!” With that, the creature stood up and walked forward. He kept walking even until Jimmy was certain that it wasn’t physically possible to go any further without crashing into the inside surface of the glass. Suddenly, Jimmy realized that Ymmij was very much real, and that he was in the room reaching forward…

The evens that unfolded soon after happened so quickly that even Jimmy himself didn’t fully understand what went on in those few seconds. All he could recall was the cold touch of Ymmij’s hands pushing him backwards… a sense of disorientation… falling… and then he couldn’t breathe… the world was flattening out … like 2 dimension… spinning suddenly… the air becoming dense like water… and then jelly…

Before he could finish taking in what was going on around him, he found himself trapped in a blurry, muffled world, staring straight at Ymmij, who was grinning from ear to ear. Jimmy tried to move, but nothing happened. Suddenly, his arm jerked upwards. He realized that his body was involuntarily imitating every single movement Ymmij made! NO!! He was in the mirror! HE WAS THE REFLECTION!

“Bye Jimmy~ Have a nice life! I’m sure I will…” Ymmij walked smoothly out the door. His words were muffled and distorted through the jelly like material, but to Jimmy, each word was like a sharp dagger penetrating through him. The words echoed in his head again and again.

“You can’t do this…” Jimmy tried to mouth, but nothing came out. He heard the faint sound of Ymmij talking to his mother in the distance. A silent tear started to roll down his cheek, but before it was halfway down, it was gone, dissolved into the jelly all around him.

Nobody really knows what happened next to “Jimmy G. Parker” or if the real Jimmy ever got his life back. (It was highly unlikely if not impossible that he did). If he is still alive, I do not know. But one thing is certain. From that day on, “Jimmy” was never the same again. It was said that he became like a new, transformed person. His attitude towards life was one of great pleasure and he was a lot more positive and grateful to be alive. They are curious things, reflections, aren’t they?

Be that as it may, that is the end of my story. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. And now you know that no matter what, in life, you should always stick to your word. Even if you are head over heels in love… or anything else, keeping your promises is essential. No matter whom you made a promise with, always follow through with it and you will lead a good life.