Living Reflection

I look absently out the window as the bus trundles along down the road, completely tuned out from the world. Music coming through the headphones over my ears, I can't help but bop my head along to the beat of the song. What? It's catchy...

I am brought back to reality so abruptly that I literally jump a little in my seat. Up till now, the scenery outside has all been the same. Blue sky with white, fluffy clouds dotting it's endless expanse here and there, tall, leafy trees every now and again, paths beside the road on which we travel and bright green grass. Lots of bright green grass.

I feel my eyes go wide as I spot the figure. At first, my eyes simply graze over them, like they've been doing with everything else, and then, I look back. That figure looked familiar... I swear I've seen them somewhere before....

I let out a sigh of relief as the bus stops to let someone on and press my face as close as it will go to the window, squinting hard in order to try and get a clearer view of this person. Whoever they are. All I can make out from this distance is that they are of an average height, and they have dark brown hair, a similar shade to my own, if not the same shade.

I shake my head, realising it was them the bus was stopping for. My eyes are glued to them as they move to step on and I wait with baited breath for them to come closer and give me a better look at them. I shudder at how creepy my own thoughts sound and avert my eyes back to the window.

But, as the sound of footsteps come closer as the new passengers make their way down the aisle to find seats, I can't help but look back. I breathe a sigh of relief as I spot the seemingly familiar person, who has not yet passed me. Again, my eyes are glued, but I try as hard as I can to be unobtrusive, casually switching my gaze from them to the view beyond the bus window, making sure to spend more time looking out the window then at them.

I look over again just in time to see they've slept into the empty seat right across the aisle from me. I look them up and down before averting my gaze once more, closing my eyes to focus on the image in my mind.  There's a reason this person looks familiar, I realise as I open my eyes and look at them again. I shudder as their gaze meets mine and it suddenly all makes sense. I am looking back at me.

It's like looking into a mirror, except I'm not. I'm right there. In front of me. It can't be right, I think and blink, but I'm still there, looking exactly as I do right at that moment. My mouth falls open as I stare back at myself.
"Come," says the other me as the bus stops again. Intrigued, I would have gotten up and followed them, but I don't have much of a say in the matter as I grab my wrist and drag me up the aisle after me.

I am more or less led blind and am instructed to sit down again before I am allowed to open my eyes. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the intense darkness surrounding me, but once they do, I look around, taking in my surrounding before my eyes come to rest on the other me, standing a few feet away with arms crossed over their chest, looking back at me. They step forward into the only piece of light in the room, coming, I suppose, from a random hole in the roof overhead. I feel myself stiffen as I see what the other me holds in his hands. A gun. Pointed squarely at me. On sheer instinct, I swiftly raise my hands in surrender. "Please!" I say, my voice sounding foreign as it hits my ears. "Don't shoot!"

I let out an involuntary sigh as the other me lowers his gun slightly and begins to circle me, in stunned motionless silence in my chair. "What do you want from me?" I hear myself ask in a whisper. "with me?"
The other me pauses directly in front of me, looks up slightly in order to meet my eyes, or, more accurately, look at my eyes from under his hood, and grunts. "I am working on orders." He says in a gruff voice.
"Orders?" I somehow manage to echo his words. "Orders from whom?"
"I cannot say," he says, averting his gaze away from me. "Though you may relax. The gun was merely a tool to ensure your compliance." As he speaks, the other me slowly loosens his grip on the gun, and I wince as it falls to the ground with a clatter. "You cannot die, for one day, you are to become me."

I simply stare back at the other me, now standing a few feet away, holding my gaze from the safety of the shadows, and blink.
"This brings me to the reason behind our acquaintance," he says and I struggle to resist laughing at his choice of words. "Though it was inevitable." I remain silent, waiting for him to continue, confident there is more. "Now is when your training begins." In a few, swift movements, he is behind me, coaxing me to stand up, and frightened by the possibility of the gun's return, I do.
"Training for what?" I ask as I straighten up.
"That," says the other me, "is for me to know, and you to find out."

E.T.

Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open to reveal the rested clear aqua eyes hidden beneath. Curiously, she looked around her. She was met with blinding white, everywhere she looked. She tried to speak, but no sound came out. Her eyes widened increasingly as she looked down to see a tube stuck in her mouth. Unable to move, she helplessly flailed her arms about in hopes someone would see.

At long last, a nurse approached, a small stretching slowly across her lips. "You're awake! Welcome back Miss Opal!" Swiftly, the nurse bustled about, removing the tube from Opal's throat. After a few sharp intakes of breath, Opal spoke. "Where am I?"
"You're at the hospital," said the nurse kindly, pausing in her movements. "Mr... Uh.. I don't know his name, but he's been round here every day."
"Carlisle?" asked Opal, slightly out of breath.
"No, not Carlisle... Certainly not Carlisle," said the nurse, gazing at the wall. "I'm not sure what his name was.." her eyes turned back to Opal. "Here, he left this behind, with the flowers." Handing her the card, she pointed at a beautiful bouquet of blue and purple hydrangeas on the table positioned against the wall opposite her bed. As the nurse left, Opal peered down at the card. Dearest Opal, it read in a neat, curly scrawl, I trust you'll rest well and I'll see you when you wake. 
-E.T.
Opal stared at his signature for a long while. E.T? E.T? The last time she checked, she was with Carlisle. His initials did not include an E, nor a T. So, who was this E.T?

Opal looked up to see the nurse had returned, and was frowning at the expression on her face. "Are you ok, Miss Opal?" she asked softly, reaching behind her to fluff the pillows behind her head.
"Who's this E.T?"
"Well, I imagine he's your partner, Miss Opal. He's come in to see you nearly every day. Oh dear..." the nurse stopped, looking back at her. "You don't remember, do you?" Opal remained silent, unsure of what to say. "I can't seem to recall anything about an E.T." Opal said. "The last thing I remember, I was with Carlisle. Nurse, what happened to me?"
"Um... well.." the nurse sank into a nearby plastic chair by Opal's bedside, leaning forward and clasping her hands together. "Miss Opal, you were in an accident. You've been unconscious for a few weeks now." The nurse suddenly gets to her feet, as if responding to a silent prompt. "Oh. I'd best get the doctor, and would you like me to call your fellow for you as well?"
Opal was silent a moment before slowly nodding in response. "Yes," she said, "I think I'd like to meet this E.T. He sounds... intriguing."
The nurse jovially clapped her hands together like a small child as she made to leave the room to make the calls. "He does doesn't he!"

"Hi Opal!" A gentle though deep sounding voice floated across the room and she looked up at him just as he reached her bedside. He reached out to touch her forehead, but the moment his fingers grazed against her, she shrunk away.
"I'm sorry," he said, sinking into the chair he'd pulled closer, settling for simply resting his clasped hands on the edge of the bed frame.
"She's experiencing a little bit of memory loss," said a passing nurse in a serious tone, pausing briefly in the doorway.

"Oh," he said, turning back to her after glancing at the nurse. "I'm sorry. How are you feeling?"
"Alright. A little confused."
"Perhaps I can help," he said, offering a tiny hint at a smile. "Fill you in a little. How much do you remember?"
"I was with Carlisle," she said. It was all that seemed relevant right now. This man was a complete stranger. But he seemed nice.
"Do you remember me? At all?" he asked, sounding desperate. Apologetically, she shook her head as her eyes fell to her bed sheets.
"Nothing?"
"You're an alien to me," she said honestly, holding his gaze. "Your touch, so foreign." She glanced at his hand on the bed frame and he extended it toward her. She lightly rested her own hand atop his before meeting his eyes once more. Her breath got caught as she looked at him and she felt a tingle run all the way down her spine.
"Well, we haven't been going out long," he said. "In fact, the night of your accident was also the night of our first date." Her eyes were locked on him as he recounted the story, and by the end, she had a smile on the end. "There's not so much to rewind, so what do you say we redeem our relationship?"
She blinked. "I'd like that," she said, interlacing their fingers together as her smile widened. "I think I'm ready for redemption."
"Ok," he said. "We'll take it one step at a time then."

"I just have to know one thing though," she said, glancing at the smiley nurse from earlier who just happened to show up in the doorway at that very moment. "What's E.T. stand for?"
"Oh, I should have done that." A smile quickly spread across his lips. "I'm so sorry Opal! I'm Eric," he slipped his hand from beneath hers and held it out toward her as if they were strangers meeting for the first time, which to Opal, was exactly what it felt like. "Eric Tate."
"I'm Opal," she said, shaking his hand.

Fly In Your Ear

At first, I could swat it away as one would a fly. But as it loomed nearer, it became the sort of fly that lingers right next to your ear, buzzing peskily and persistently, teasing you. "I'm not going anywhere! There's nothing you can do about me!" it seemed to be saying.

The nearer it is, the closer the fly hovers, the louder the buzzing becomes, the harder it becomes to swat. The fly gets a little cheeky, flitting this way and that, expertly dodging your flailing hands, even only by the skin of it's teeth.

I had no choice but to ignore it, no matter how loud the buzzing grew, no matter how hard it became. Because if I didn't ignore it, the fly and it's buzzing would consume me completely. It would take me over and quite possibly drive me insane.

Though it can't be denied that it takes a great deal of strength, it's not entirely impossible to ignore the    constant buzzing of the fly in your ear. You must focus, and have patience and perseverance. It takes time to hone any skill, and if one loses patience and gives up, the fly will return, it will buzz. Louder and fly stronger. Unless, you stand up to the fly.

Flies may seem small and a mere pest, but don't let them fool you, and whatever you do, don't let them catch you off guard. Because, if they catch you off guard... Small they may be, but flies are also somewhat smart. At the first sign of weakness or abandon, they come racing toward you. It passes by in a blur. They come toward you, the buzz growing louder and louder until it's all you can hear. Until it engulfs your mind entirely.

I could almost hear you asking, "how? how do you know all of this?" Well, I know all of this because it's happened to me. On several an occasion. At first I was weak and the fear was able to take over my mind. It made me tremble and shake, even shed a few tears. And later on, just when I thought I'd gotten rid of it for good, it returned. It came back to haunt me, figuring, I suppose, that I was an easy target. But then, I started to fight back. Suddenly, it was harder to get to me and the fear returned less and less. But, if I give in, even the slightest bit, the fear sees the opportunity and comes back to see how much it can get into my head.

So, here's the thing. You can stand up to the fear. You can fight the fly in your ear. You can regain control and you can be strong. But I forgot to mention the biggest secret of all, and that is this; to be able to fight this battle of the mind, and win, you must have faith in yourself.

We all know it. You know it and I know it. You are strong and you can do this. I can't promise the battle will ever go away completely. Fear will always be present. But the stronger you become, the easier it is to fight and the fly in your ear will grow weaker in return. If nothing else, remember this; you are the power source of the fear. You are the one who controls it's supply, so how much power will you give it?

What's Normal Anyway?

"What?" she gasped, staring at him, wide eyed. "How? What? Why? You don't deserve that!" with each word she spoke, her voice grew louder and louder. It was a struggle not to straight out scream.
"Thank you." Was all he could think to say in response.
"I don't get it," she said honestly, her voice a whisper. "How can they be so cruel to someone so wonderful?"
"They don't know me," he said simply. "All they know is what I am."
"It's part of who you are. It doesn't define you! It shouldn't define you!"
"It's different, and in this day and age, different causes heads to turn. Different is seen as wrong."

"What's different?" she asked loudly, rising swiftly to her feet. "Really? Somebody tell me what it is, because I don't know!"
"It's..." her friend started to say, abruptly closing his mouth as she opened hers.
"No! There is no such thing as different." He breathed a sigh of relief at the lessened volume of her voice. "No one's exactly the same. Not even identical twins!"
"Okay, Pia, what are you saying?"
"Well, if no one's exactly the same, how can there be a 'normal'? and if there's no 'normal', then how can someone be different?"
"Hmm..." he said as they sat down again.
"So what's normal anyway?" she said. "Because no one's version of what normal is is the same. So how can there be a normal?"
"You make a good point," he said. "In an ideal world... if only everyone was as accepting and willing to make a stand as you are."

"I just don't get it" she said, all the fire apparently drained from her system. "I was always taught not to judge a book by it's cover. So to come out and see people judging others so harshly, just because they're not like them ... It all feels so foreign, and unfair, and..." crying now, she paused to sniffle a little. "I think I liked it better in my little shell, where I didn't know about the cruelty that awesome people like you have to face everyday, so unfairly."

"Well," he said, taking a breath. "It takes people to make a change, and the more people in support of something, the sooner the change arrives. Maybe you could join the movement." He stood up, smiling at the idea that entered his mind. "Hell! Pia, you could lead the movement with your passion!"

One With Nature

At first glance, the surroundings are far too dark to be able to make out any one, single thing. But as my eyes adjust, the glassy lake before me and the trees, still dark with the light of the moon, become clearer. As the environment grew on me, my ears become attuned to the sounds in the woods. At first, the croaks of frogs nearby seem,a whisper in the still night air, but then, the sound became louder until it is a constant, deafening  buzz right in my ear.

The noise of the frogs' croaks faded away and my ears prick up as I hear it. The loud, mourning sound, travelling at speed through the wind to meet my ears fills me with a strange pleasure that I don't completely understand. I know it is far away, but it seems as if the creature belonging to these mournful cries is standing right next to me.

I stand still, looking straight ahead of me, but not really seeing what's there. In this moment, my mind is more in touch with the sounds of the night. The lake lapping gently against the shoreline, the wind, whipping through the trees, the soft padding of feet, falling into step on the dirt strewn path.

I look back to see Rose, watching me anxiously from our little campsite. "Barney," comes her voice in the chilly breeze. "Barney, come back to..." I watch as she stops mid sentence, her eyes growing wide. I look around me to see a big, furry wolf padding out toward me from among the trees. Involuntarily, I let out a shiver before inhaling and exhaling deeply, resuming my calm composure.

I do not move even an inch as the wolf comes closer circling me, it's fur occasionally brushing ticklishly against the bare skin of my arms and legs. It comes closer still, brushing up against me and wrapping its neck around mine. Still, I don't move.

There is silence moment before the excruciating pain ensues, foreign and unexpected, it flows through my veins, taking over me. I dropped my knees as it engulfs me completely and hear Rose running toward me from behind, letting out an empathetic cry at my pain. I look back just in time to see her reach out to me, then she shies away. I look at her cautiously before glancing at the wolf by my side not able to understand what's happening. My eyes widen as I feel my most cherished memories of myself and raise seem to fade away. I look back at her in horror and she returns my gaze, her eyes full of fear.

With the wolf shadowing me, I step forward towards the lake. My eyes widen even more with the sight that greets me. I am just like the creature beside me. Somehow, I'm wolf. That fact should scare me it doesn't. I'm completely serene. I look around me and there seems to be wave of calm that washes over me. I am one with my surroundings, with the environment. I am one with nature.

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Prequel to 'The Silent Haunt'