Nothing But Snippets

Reflections

One two one two

Two of me Two of You
One two One two
You are me and I am you
When we meet eye to eye
We will see
How One is lies and truth survives

The old children's rhyme filled her thoughts as she waited for the test. For the past few days it was all she could think about. She had no idea why, but it was. For some reason knowing the meaning of the rhyme seemed vital to her survival. What exactly was she surviving; she wasn't sure.

She was sure of one thing though. Today was the most crucial part of her life. For years she waited for this test. A test no one knew about. It was a rare occurrence. It happened maybe once every twenty years. Only a select few were chosen to take it, and those who completed it were set for greatness. That much was certain.

What wasn't certain was the mystery of the test. So few had ever gone through with it, and those who had refused to talk about it. Maybe that should have scared her, but it only made her all the more eager.

Finally the metal door that had been blocking her path to the exam room ground it's way up like a garage door and a blast of hot air and sand swept into the corridor forcing her to cover her face for protection. When she could finally bare to look into the raging sandstorm she saw how the tile floor bled into rolling sand dunes, how the walls melted away and gave way to an expansive desert, and how the sky was nothing but the glass dome of a building, the ceiling of the exam hall to be exact.

Confused, and slightly dazed by the unexpected scenery change, she made her way into the desert. She noticed a scattered path of floor tiles that seemingly led to the center, and hopefully to her objective. She shuffled along, slipping and falling down the dunes with just about every step, until finally she reached the end of the path only to find nothing.

She swore under her breath as she scanned her surroundings. Surely there was something? She was ready to turn back and head to the strange metal door when suddenly a silhouette graced the horizon.

"Hello?" She called only to hear her echo. Even though the far off shadow did not respond it sped up. This should have frightened her, and it did, but not as much as it intrigued her.

She stood frozen in time waiting for a mystery to be solved. What is the test? She could tell the answer was coming.

Her heart was beating out of her chest, and her legs quaked underneath her. It was getting closer, and closer, and closer, and then time froze. Her legs quit shaking and her heart turned to ice. She waited all this time, she worked so hard, all for the test to be a mirror!?

Her anticipation was replace by fury. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" She screamed and her reflection did the same. Her voice echoed through the desert. "ALL OF THIS FOR A MIRROR!?"

She screamed, pulled at her hair, and kicked sand out of anger. All these things her reflection did as well. Her screams echoed and her movements were mimicked. It wasn't until she threw at a nearby rock at the mirror to shatter the cruel joke that she saw the truth. A truth she would have never known if the reflection hadn't ducked.

Then everything came crashing down. Mounds of revelation fell upon her. The reflection was not a reflection, but a person. The echos were not echos, they were the other girl screaming the exact same words. The movements weren't mimicked, but the reflection girl's own decision.

The two girls stared at each other in shock. Is this the test? How is this a test? She didn't understand. What was this supposed to do. How was this even possible? She tried to find a difference but she couldn't. Same hair, same eyes, same mouth, same freckle on the chin, she even wore the same clothes. The only difference was where they stood.

Then, just as she thought things couldn't get worse, the old children's rhyme played throughout the landscape.

One two one two
Two of me Two of You
One two One two
You are me and I am you
When we meet eye to eye
We will see
How One is lies and truth survives

As it played the pieces fell into place. She understood the rhyme with perfect clarity, and with the clarity came bone chilling horror as a voice boomed overhead Kill the lies. Let the truth survive