The Men in the Mirror

“What are you scared of, son? Why do you feel the need to hide? To Run?”

“Are you afraid of the demons in the dark? Something unknown lurking out far?”

“Let me tell you that’s just your imagination. It’s just your brain playing games with you.”

“I am telling you now. What you see is not real. It’s just something that your mind is showing you”

“There are only hallucinations. No Ghosts exist in this real world. These are no demons that you see.”

“So, don’t be afraid now. Don’t give in. Be brave. Hold my hand. Come back into the light with me”

“Doctor, Oh Doctor, are you my savior? Have you come here to help me? To give me your hand? And pull me out of this wretched misery”

“Well, thank you for that!!”

“But you talked about the mind, about hallucinations and about reality.”

“You talked about light, about darkness and demons.”

“It’s an interesting idea you have put into my mind. Let me contemplate it for a moment. Let me share my thoughts with you.”

“Ah, my dear Doctor, let me tell you about Darkness. You know, Darkness is darker, much darker than you think. The word DARK itself, gives me the creeps.”

“Darkness is absence of light, absence of warmth, absence of feeling, emotions, hope, bliss, tranquility, comfort.”

“Darkness is a black hole, a depressive, claustrophobic place. A place with no existence. No walls, corners, edges or boundaries.”

“The laws of Physics, mathematics and logic don’t apply in the dark. Hence, I conclude, it’s a place that is not of this earth. Would you agree?”

“In the depths of darkness, it’s like being in a well of quick sand, submerged under, with your eyes open, but with nothing to see. Suffocating. Gasping, Grasping for breath. A heaviness which is exceeded only by its nothingness.”

“Believe me doctor, the demons are the least of your worries in that dark void. In fact, they are welcome because it’s a comfort to know that someone else is there with you… even if it’s a demon.”

“But unfortunately doctor, there is no one in the dark. No one to talk, no one to feel and no one who cares. The only demon in the darkness is ME and MY Damned Soul.”

“Also, doctor you talked about reality. So, it makes me wonder now, what is the nature of this reality?”

“When I was a boy I read that reality is what your mind shows you. The light travels through the eyes and paints a picture in the brain. That is what we perceive as reality. But who is to tell if that picture is real? Can YOU definitely say it? Can I definitely say it?”

“For instance, right now, do you think all this is real? Are you sure it’s not a figment of your imagination? A vivid dream through which you might wake up with a start and find yourself in your bed?" 

"Or maybe you will wake up 20 years younger in your college dorm room, after a night of heavy binge drinking.”

“This room, this table, that clipboard in your hand? Is it all real? Are you sure of that? Are you sure it’s not a perceived reality induced by that little pill you put on your tongue at your beach party this evening?”

“These grey walls, that huge one-way mirror on the wall, this asylum. Is it real? And what about me? Am I real, doctor? Or are you just experiencing one of your schizophrenic episodes?”

“Look at yourself, doctor, in that mirror on the wall and tell me what you see.”

“I promise to listen to you. But don’t give me your hand. I might NOT be able to save you”

“Look in the mirror, doctor. In reality, I am the doctor and you are the patient. Look and accept it. That’s the first step YOU will take to save YOURSELF from the demons in YOUR head.”

“Identify the nature of reality, doctor.”

And the doctor looked.

As the first second ticked in his wrist-watch, the doctor looked into the mirror and he saw himself in the patient’s green clothes. The reflection of the man standing on the other side of the table was that of a doctor, wearing a white coat, carrying a clipboard.

As the second second ticked, the doctor felt amazed, marveling at this trick his mind had played. Why was he dressed like the patient? Was it true, everything the other man said?

In the Third second, the patient lifted his chair above his head and brought it down with a heavy crash into the doctor’s bald scalp, killing him instantly.

The doctor writhed, but he felt no pain. Only his life seeping out through his body, enveloping him in a darkness that was suffocating, submerging, weightless, yet infinitely heavy. And then he felt peace, for the first time in his life.  

The patient smiled faintly, for he had successfully accomplished his task. He had used his power to look into the doctors mind and memories and trick him into seeing what he wanted him to see. It had given him enough time to kill the wretched pig, who had been giving him those drugs that made him feel sleepy. But he was happy that the drugs had not unsharpened his gift. 

But he also knew there will be consequences for his little stunt. THEY must be racing right now to come inside this room and pin him down. THEY will put him back into solitary confinement and increase his medication. He will start getting the head-splitting migraine from using too much of his power.

But he told himself to stay sharp and concentrate. Rest a bit and start thinking of how to get out of this asylum, before THEY figure out how to use his gift as a weapon.