Too Many Loose Ends

Knock Knock

Henry taps on the mirror with a swift and subtle knock, awaiting the conjoining one on the other side. He's been doing this for months. No, years. The thing always talked to him in a hushed, hurried whisper, telling him directions for that day. What to do. He never knew what the objective was, and even when he asked, the voice would ignore him, and would keep spewing random words at random spots in time, fusing and forming jumbled sentences. Therefor, he never followed the directions. If he didn't know the reason, then why follow them at all? Why keep talking to the voice behind the mirror; in the mirror. Sometimes, he listened especially carefully, translating some simple directions. One day, it could be to just collect water from the town over, or to simply put dirt in his pocket or on the mirror. They always made no sense, and he set down the mirror, awaiting the thunk through the reflection. Whenever he picked up the mirror after school and the... thing started talking to him, he never saw his reflection, but when he looked into it, he always saw the same thing. A large black lake with old trees and flora surrounding it. All of the scenery was dark and dense, like somebody had taken a picture spanning miles and miles, and squished it so everything was in one place. Nothing would move, except for when the creature was done explaining what he had to do, the thin black water would ripple perfectly, creating movement across the once still lake. He still sat and listened for the hit of the mirror but it never came as he pulled out his pocket watch that read 4:44 sharp. Every day at the same time, almost the same second, he had heard the knock that was now anxiously awaiting. Why? He had no desire to follow any of the rambled directions from the speaker, yet, he always came back and checked on the small mirror tucked under his pillow. It's as if it was calling to him. Quietly when he first discovered it, but now, every day at 4:44 P.M. it was shouting at him. Screaming in Henry's mind belting out the same thing over and over and over and over again. "CHECK IT!! THE MIRROR!!CHECK IT!! THE MIRROR!!CHECK IT!!" There was really no escaping it. It started to bleed through right now in fact, while Henry was sitting worried, he began to grow strangely calm, for the yelling voice was back. Even louder than ever before. But that feeling would soon be ripped from his gut, as when he picked up the mirror, he saw no lake, no trees or bushes or grass. But instead, all Henry saw was his own reflection, messy with mangled and strange features. He looked at his face with terror, having the audacity to blink and take another look. His face was plastered with worry and fear, but instead, his reflection showed an evil smile, its teeth bared and bloody, and with an evil smile and a wink from his own cast, Henry then realized what he had to do. He opened up the window from his 2 story bedroom and threw the mirror as hard as he possible heard toward the ground. After a few seconds, the mirror smashed with a loud crash, and with that blood curdling screams tore into Henry's head, the noise being unbearable, and he was considering jumping the same route as the mirror. The screams and shouts sounded like those of his school friends, his sister, even his parents were screaming as if they were being brutally mutilated inside of Henry's ear. He painfull laid down, grabbing his pillow and trying so hard to muffle the ear piercing screams inside of his head. After two long terrible days of rocking back and forth waiting for it to end, it ceased, but unknowingly to Henry, somewhere, someone fatefully found a golden mirror in a bush, presuming it was their lucky day.