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March 22, 2004

Mirror Mirror

Why do you like the one-way mirrors so much? I asked him.
Because I do, he said.
That's not an answer, that's a child's answer. I said.
He stared back at me, unblinking. But I like them. He said. They're the only kind of mirrors I use.
But that's silly, because you only stand on the other side. You never get to see yourself. It's not even a mirror to you.
True, he said. But I get to see you. Even better, I get to see you without you even knowing about it. I can do it whenever I like, and you never see me.
I said to him How is that fair? It's hardly fair. And a little creepy, I might add... Creep. Where do you get your mirrors?
He laughed and scratched his head. I rubbed my eyes.
His hair was messy and my eyes were tired.
After a while, I started to giggle and forgot why.

And anyway, what does it matter to you? he said finally. You love mirrors, you look into them on your own, whenever they're around. Don't you naturally assume that someone might be looking back?
I rubbed my eyes some more. I inhaled. I exhaled.
Sure, I guess I do. But usually it's just me looking back.
Usually, he said. but not always. Sometimes I'm there.
Oh. I said. I guess I knew that already.
He was smiling at me. I could see that his eyes were tired, too.
We both had tired eyes. His were smiling.
He leaned in and his face was close to mine. I could feel my breath reflected off him. I could feel that I was smiling, too.
He kissed me. Sweetly. His lips were soft and warm.
I felt the laughter bubble up and out of me. I couldn't help it.
Then he was laughing, too.
We laughed together. Laughed for a long time, with our laughter ringing and echoing around us.

And when we stopped laughing, he was gone. And I didn't wonder where he went, or why, and I didn't mind that other people thought I was laughing by myself. I knew.

Posted by kati at March 22, 2004 11:01 PM

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