Involution

I see them in the mirror. I see them in the puddle. I see them the moment before the laptop screen lights up. And They see me.

My reflection is supposed to be me. It was me. But one day it was not. Those are my eyes, my ears, my teeth. But a cruelty hides deep in their pupils. Their grin is full of needles and their auricles are knots of tumors.

They are my enemy. I can’t explain why. Every time I see them, I feel nothing but hostility. Sometimes I see an expression of terror. Wide eyes. Clenched teeth set to spring open with a scream. They are mocking me. Mocking the fear about to burst from my chest.

I am here. They are there. My one comfort. I feel the violence in them but the most they can do is torment my mind. So I must ignore them. I avert my eyes. I preen blindly at my sink. I look to the standing tree instead of the hanging one in the pond. I blink as I open my laptop. I turned my back on my enemy. This was my folly.

Someone opened a glass door into my path and I did not see. I glanced away from the enemy instinctually. And I walked right into them. My Reflection. And now I am there. With Them.

I am frozen in shock. Their lips split to reveal those horrible teeth. To snarl or scream. I do not know. They mean to do me harm. I attack first. We use every fiber of strength in our struggle. We are cornered animals. Our combat wordless and free of exclamation. Every ounce of oxygen needed for our exertion. Peace impossible until the other is extinguished.

I am thrown into the glass door. The portal to our confrontation. And it shatters. Into long cruel fangs. I snatch one up. Ignorant as the crystal fillets my grip. And I am upon Them. I roar. Thrust. And my shard glints in Their chest. And Theirs scintillates in mine.

Our blood seeps from our bodies and mingles. And our blood is the same. It was always the same. I am realizing too late. The eyes, ears, and teeth. They are me and mine.

Then in the periphery. In the facet of the shard. At the point of reflection. The imperceptible intersection. I see the Cruelty. A sly serpent. I see that I was deceived. And They were tricked. This Involution twisted our perceptions and poisoned us. Goaded us into mutual destruction. And I weep. We weep. Until our bodies are bled. Then still. And our Enemy glitters in our blood.