[ WP ] As you gaze into the mirror , you see a different person staring back at you .

Dirty, disheveled hair springs from my head. The eyes that stare back at me are vacant milky spheres with a dull glow that some might mistake for a twinkle. My nose is twisted, broken, with dried blood and beneath it a garish permanent grin makes me seem happy about my misfortune. The man staring back at me isn ’ t who I am; I ’ m still the young man eager to discover my place in the world. In my mind, my brown hair is neatly parted and my eyes smile out at the world because they know a secret. They know how great of a guy I really am and how lucky the world is to have me. My nose is straight and my cheeks are clear, teenage acne spared me. My perfect teeth are as white as snow, soldiers lined up, ready to perform. The ghastly figure in the mirror parts his lips, revealing a line of chipped and yellowed teeth, a row of broken arrowheads impaled into his gums. 
 
 
 “ You ’ re not me! ” I scream at the figure in the mirror, but he shakes his head and stares back at me. 
 
 “ Oh, but I am. ” The voice in the growls back at me. 
 
 
 “ I ’ m one of the good guys! ” 
 
 
 “ We ’ re all good guys ” 
 
 
 “ I ’ m going to change the world! ” 
 
 
 “ You already have. ” The beast replies with a giggle. He stares out at me, in contradiction to the rapacious grin and the giggle, there ’ s a tear on his cheek slowly dripping down his face, the cliched single tear, leaving a clean line as it washes away the dirt in its path. 
 
 “ You ’ re not me! ” I scream, my voice breaking in anger. I can feel more tears welling up in my eyes, blurring my vision. I wipe the tears away and as my vision clears, the young man is gone. He ’ s somewhere, lost in the mirror, but all I can see is the monster. A laugh begins somewhere deep in my chest, by the time it reaches my throat, I ’ ve left the mirror behind. 

