Mirror
A fox wakes up to find himself in a dark room with the only other thing in the room being a mirror. This was originally published in the FurReality Conbook this year. The theme was VIVA! and it dealt with life and death, which is why the story is so sad.
Mirror "Where am I?" Lucas asked himself as he
looked around at his surroundings. The first thing that he became aware of was
being alone in an almost completely dark room. The only things he could make
out about the room was a dim gray floor that only barely contrasted with the
otherwise pitch black environment that created a kind of horizon. At first he
felt a bit disoriented with his inability to figure out his center of gravity,
but he quickly focused his eyes on the point where the gray met the black. The
only other thing in the room that he noticed was a mirror that was only just
barely visible. It was about the same height as him and whether by curiosity or
some unknown force, he found himself being pulled toward it. Slowly he got up and began walking
toward the mirror. The room was not all that large from what he could figure
and before too long he was close enough to the mirror for his reflection to be
visible. In the mirror, staring back at him, was the same middle aged red fox
that he had seen in mirrors at his own home. A couple of things struck him as odd
about this mirror. Firstly, while the room had no apparent light source in it,
his reflection looked almost no different than it would have had he been in a
very well lit room, maybe even clearer. Secondly, and even more noticeable for
him, was that the reflection that was shown before him had a number of wounds
that were clearly obvious on his face and arms. "What the hell happened to me?" He
asked himself. Slowly, he raised one of his shaking paws up to feel the wound
so as to make sure it was real and not a trick of the reflection. He felt the
wound and quickly pulled his finger away to check if there was any blood, but
there was none. No sooner had he done this, than the
image in the mirror began to change. He saw his face begin to morph from that
of the middle aged fox to that of a young fox kit. He was taken aback by this.
The kit was not unfamiliar to him, he had seen the kit a number of times in old
photographs that he had around his house. The young kit looking back at him was
a younger version of himself. Before he could get a better grasp
on the situation, his surroundings suddenly turned from a darkly lit
environment to one lit up by an almost blinding white light that seemed to explode
in a sudden burst. Lucas allowed his limbs and tail to stiffen for a second to
prevent himself from losing balance and then unlocked them when he was
confident that he could maintain his balance. Almost as soon as the room got
bright it died down and revealed that any signs of the room's existence, with
the noted exception of the mirror, were gone. In its place was a country field,
and in the distance he could see a small farm house popping out of the field.
The house was really what piqued his interest the most though. That was the
same house he had spent his early childhood in. He once again felt the same force
that had directed him toward the mirror. This time though it pulled him toward
the house. He walked at a decently slow pace so as to give his mind a chance to
contemplate his situation. It didn't take nearly as long as he
had thought to reach his destination. He looked at the old house he had not
seen since his kithood. The house had a couple levels to it as he remembered.
True to form he noticed that the windows were open to let air into the house,
so his mother used to say. "Lucas!" He heard a female's voice
call from the house. His ears perked straight up at the call of his name. He
knew that voice, one that he hadn't heard since his young adulthood. It was the
voice of his mother whom had passed away when he had just hit adulthood. "Yes momma?" Came the response of
the same young kit who Lucas had seen in the mirror as he came running up to
one of the many windows. The older version of Lucas was close
enough that he could see the ears on his younger self's head droop in sadness.
He tried to listen in closer to the conversation that his young self was having
with his mother, using his strong sense of hearing to his advantage. "I...I don't understand momma!" Young
Lucas said in a voice that was little more than a sob. "Why do we have to
leave? Daddy wouldn't have wanted us to leave. Why can't we stay right here?" "I know," His mother's voice came,
trying to keep her son from crying, "but I can't afford to keep this place.
With your father... gone it puts a lot of strain on me to try... to try and keep
this place." His mother told him, her voice cracking a little near the end. Lucas's older self was watching this
exchange, his own eyes about to tear up at the memory that was being shown to
him. Quickly he pulled his ears in the opposite direction of the house, in the
interest of not hearing anymore. His father had died when Lucas was only seven
years old from an unexplained illness. His family had never had much money, but
they were able to get by and make a decent life for themselves. He turned his head away from the
scene in front of him, but when he did this he was once again confronted with
the mirror. It was the same distance away from him it had been when he turned
away from it to explore the memory. It was like he had never moved from that
same spot. He tried to push the question of how
it got there to the back of his mind. Slowly he glanced into the mirror, but
what he saw surprised him. In the mirror stood a fox that was wearing a black
suit and had an expression that revealed sadness. Just as it was with the kit,
this fox was no stranger to Lucas. Once again, this was him. The bright light returned, this time
though, Lucas was ready. He closed his eyes and once again locked his limbs. He
was like this for about five seconds before he once more opened his eyes. He found himself in the chapel of a
funeral parlor. The room was full of people all clad in formal clothes. Many of
these faces he recognized while others he could not say that he knew. They were
all facing in the direction of an open casket that contained the body of a
vixen who was wearing a beautiful white dress. The crowd in the room went silent as
a young adult fox began to approach a podium that was next to the casket. "Hello everybody, as many of you
know I am Jennifer's son." He introduced himself, his voice only thinly veiling
his sadness that threatened to take it over. "My mother was a wonderful lady. I
know how cliché that may sound, but it is true." He took a deep breathe in to
try and keep his voice from cracking. "After my father died she started to
work two jobs to help better take care of me, as I was her only child. During
the week the only times I would see her was just before I left for school and
in the very late evening. I remember being upset with her when she was leaving,
not properly understanding the reasons behind. I may not have been able to see
it then, but I am able to see and understand her sacrifices that she made for
us to have a good life." He said all this with tears beginning to run down his
face. Lucas's older self who was watching
in the back of the chapel, was sobbing. Not being able to handle anymore, he
turned toward the mirror, hoping it would take him away from this place. The
mirror seemed happy to oblige. The mirror took to other key events
in his life after this. His wedding, his daughter's birth, his daughter's
graduation from both high school and college, and other such events. Finally
after all of these, he found himself teleported to a hospital room. "What am I doing here?" He asked
himself in little more than a whisper. He looked around the room a little bit
before his eyes settled on the bed which was placed in the very center of the
room. Lying there was the same image from
the first reflection, what he could only guess was his present self. Sitting
next to the bed were two vixens who he was able to recognize as his wife and
daughter. Unlike the memories that had been shown to him previously, he could
not hear all that they were talking about, though he was able to pick up the
words "car wreck" and "fatal". "So that's it, I'm dying." He
realized. He discovered that unlike what one
would think that you should feel like in his situation, he felt no sadness or
fear, just an unusual sense of peace. He walked over to the two females
and placed a paw on one of his daughter's shoulders and the other on his wife's
shoulder. "I love you both very much." He told them, doubtful they could hear
him or feel his paws on their shoulders. Gently, he pulled his paws away and
turned toward the mirror for what he instinctually felt would be the last time.
He avoided looking directly in the mirror for a while, nervous of what he might
see. Heaven, Hell, his next life, or maybe even oblivion, he was unsure. After what seemed like an eternity,
he worked up enough courage to look. At first the mirror showed nothing but his
own reflection, but after about two seconds a couple of foxes appeared
alongside him. There in the mirror was the images of both of his parents,
looking as they did when he was a kit. They smiled at him and he returned the
smile with one of his own that showed an odd mixture of joy and melancholy.
The light appeared once more, this time
with the mixture of the noise of a heart monitor and the sound of a reunited
family.