{"sf1_id":933362,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Mirror","author":"Bruno Schafer","words":1782,"posted_at":"2015-11-13T21:23:00.000Z","tags":["Fox","Male","Sad"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/933362-mirror","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/933362","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=933362\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"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.","content":"Mirror          \"Where am I?\" Lucas asked himself as he\nlooked around at his surroundings. The first thing that he became aware of was\nbeing alone in an almost completely dark room. The only things he could make\nout about the room was a dim gray floor that only barely contrasted with the\notherwise pitch black environment that created a kind of horizon. At first he\nfelt a bit disoriented with his inability to figure out his center of gravity,\nbut he quickly focused his eyes on the point where the gray met the black. The\nonly other thing in the room that he noticed was a mirror that was only just\nbarely visible. It was about the same height as him and whether by curiosity or\nsome unknown force, he found himself being pulled toward it.            Slowly he got up and began walking\ntoward the mirror. The room was not all that large from what he could figure\nand before too long he was close enough to the mirror for his reflection to be\nvisible. In the mirror, staring back at him, was the same middle aged red fox\nthat he had seen in mirrors at his own home.            A couple of things struck him as odd\nabout this mirror. Firstly, while the room had no apparent light source in it,\nhis reflection looked almost no different than it would have had he been in a\nvery well lit room, maybe even clearer. Secondly, and even more noticeable for\nhim, was that the reflection that was shown before him had a number of wounds\nthat were clearly obvious on his face and arms.            \"What the hell happened to me?\" He\nasked himself. Slowly, he raised one of his shaking paws up to feel the wound\nso as to make sure it was real and not a trick of the reflection. He felt the\nwound and quickly pulled his finger away to check if there was any blood, but\nthere was none.            No sooner had he done this, than the\nimage in the mirror began to change. He saw his face begin to morph from that\nof the middle aged fox to that of a young fox kit. He was taken aback by this.\nThe kit was not unfamiliar to him, he had seen the kit a number of times in old\nphotographs that he had around his house. The young kit looking back at him was\na younger version of himself.            Before he could get a better grasp\non the situation, his surroundings suddenly turned from a darkly lit\nenvironment to one lit up by an almost blinding white light that seemed to explode\nin a sudden burst. Lucas allowed his limbs and tail to stiffen for a second to\nprevent himself from losing balance and then unlocked them when he was\nconfident that he could maintain his balance.            Almost as soon as the room got\nbright it died down and revealed that any signs of the room's existence, with\nthe noted exception of the mirror, were gone. In its place was a country field,\nand in the distance he could see a small farm house popping out of the field.\nThe house was really what piqued his interest the most though. That was the\nsame house he had spent his early childhood in.            He once again felt the same force\nthat had directed him toward the mirror. This time though it pulled him toward\nthe house. He walked at a decently slow pace so as to give his mind a chance to\ncontemplate his situation.            It didn't take nearly as long as he\nhad thought to reach his destination. He looked at the old house he had not\nseen since his kithood. The house had a couple levels to it as he remembered.\nTrue to form he noticed that the windows were open to let air into the house,\nso his mother used to say.            \"Lucas!\" He heard a female's voice\ncall from the house. His ears perked straight up at the call of his name. He\nknew that voice, one that he hadn't heard since his young adulthood. It was the\nvoice of his mother whom had passed away when he had just hit adulthood.            \"Yes momma?\" Came the response of\nthe same young kit who Lucas had seen in the mirror as he came running up to\none of the many windows.            The older version of Lucas was close\nenough that he could see the ears on his younger self's head droop in sadness.\nHe tried to listen in closer to the conversation that his young self was having\nwith his mother, using his strong sense of hearing to his advantage.            \"I...I don't understand momma!\" Young\nLucas said in a voice that was little more than a sob. \"Why do we have to\nleave? Daddy wouldn't have wanted us to leave. Why can't we stay right here?\"            \"I know,\" His mother's voice came,\ntrying to keep her son from crying, \"but I can't afford to keep this place.\nWith your father... gone it puts a lot of strain on me to try... to try and keep\nthis place.\" His mother told him, her voice cracking a little near the end.            Lucas's older self was watching this\nexchange, his own eyes about to tear up at the memory that was being shown to\nhim. Quickly he pulled his ears in the opposite direction of the house, in the\ninterest of not hearing anymore. His father had died when Lucas was only seven\nyears old from an unexplained illness. His family had never had much money, but\nthey were able to get by and make a decent life for themselves.            He turned his head away from the\nscene in front of him, but when he did this he was once again confronted with\nthe mirror. It was the same distance away from him it had been when he turned\naway from it to explore the memory. It was like he had never moved from that\nsame spot.            He tried to push the question of how\nit got there to the back of his mind. Slowly he glanced into the mirror, but\nwhat he saw surprised him. In the mirror stood a fox that was wearing a black\nsuit and had an expression that revealed sadness. Just as it was with the kit,\nthis fox was no stranger to Lucas. Once again, this was him.            The bright light returned, this time\nthough, Lucas was ready. He closed his eyes and once again locked his limbs. He\nwas like this for about five seconds before he once more opened his eyes.            He found himself in the chapel of a\nfuneral parlor. The room was full of people all clad in formal clothes. Many of\nthese faces he recognized while others he could not say that he knew. They were\nall facing in the direction of an open casket that contained the body of a\nvixen who was wearing a beautiful white dress.            The crowd in the room went silent as\na young adult fox began to approach a podium that was next to the casket.            \"Hello everybody, as many of you\nknow I am Jennifer's son.\" He introduced himself, his voice only thinly veiling\nhis sadness that threatened to take it over. \"My mother was a wonderful lady. I\nknow how cliché that may sound, but it is true.\" He took a deep breathe in to\ntry and keep his voice from cracking.            \"After my father died she started to\nwork two jobs to help better take care of me, as I was her only child. During\nthe week the only times I would see her was just before I left for school and\nin the very late evening. I remember being upset with her when she was leaving,\nnot properly understanding the reasons behind. I may not have been able to see\nit then, but I am able to see and understand her sacrifices that she made for\nus to have a good life.\" He said all this with tears beginning to run down his\nface.            Lucas's older self who was watching\nin the back of the chapel, was sobbing. Not being able to handle anymore, he\nturned toward the mirror, hoping it would take him away from this place. The\nmirror seemed happy to oblige.            The mirror took to other key events\nin his life after this. His wedding, his daughter's birth, his daughter's\ngraduation from both high school and college, and other such events. Finally\nafter all of these, he found himself teleported to a hospital room.            \"What am I doing here?\" He asked\nhimself in little more than a whisper. He looked around the room a little bit\nbefore his eyes settled on the bed which was placed in the very center of the\nroom.            Lying there was the same image from\nthe first reflection, what he could only guess was his present self. Sitting\nnext to the bed were two vixens who he was able to recognize as his wife and\ndaughter. Unlike the memories that had been shown to him previously, he could\nnot hear all that they were talking about, though he was able to pick up the\nwords \"car wreck\" and \"fatal\".            \"So that's it, I'm dying.\" He\nrealized.            He discovered that unlike what one\nwould think that you should feel like in his situation, he felt no sadness or\nfear, just an unusual sense of peace.            He walked over to the two females\nand placed a paw on one of his daughter's shoulders and the other on his wife's\nshoulder. \"I love you both very much.\" He told them, doubtful they could hear\nhim or feel his paws on their shoulders.            Gently, he pulled his paws away and\nturned toward the mirror for what he instinctually felt would be the last time.\nHe avoided looking directly in the mirror for a while, nervous of what he might\nsee. Heaven, Hell, his next life, or maybe even oblivion, he was unsure.            After what seemed like an eternity,\nhe worked up enough courage to look. At first the mirror showed nothing but his\nown reflection, but after about two seconds a couple of foxes appeared\nalongside him. There in the mirror was the images of both of his parents,\nlooking as they did when he was a kit. They smiled at him and he returned the\nsmile with one of his own that showed an odd mixture of joy and melancholy.\n            The light appeared once more, this time\nwith the mixture of the noise of a heart monitor and the sound of a reunited\nfamily."}