[ WP ] You check yourself out in the full length mirror before going to bed . You bend down to untie your shoes . As you are nearly finished , you see with your peripheral vision your reflection stand up seconds before you do .

Another day was over. My laptop shut with a snap that echoed through the empty room and I sat in silence, staring out the window of my sixth floor apartment. The hazy yellow street light threw lonely shadows upon the abandoned playground structures I was so familiar with. 
 
 I shrugged out of my jacket, placed it on the chair, and bent down to unlace my shoes. Tomorrow would be yet another day solitude keeps me company. I would get little done and speak with absolutely no one. This was not how I pictured my life to be while growing up... 
 
 As I stood, I noticed a movement in the mirror beside me that did n't match my own. The figure within straightened just before I did. It was subtle, almost undetectable, yet I was almost certain it happened. My reflection blinked when I blinked, leaned forward when I did, and when I raised my hand to run it through the hair in front of my face, so did she. But as I watched her cautiously, one loose strand of hair fell before her eyes and they glimmered anxiously as though hoping I had n't noticed. 
 
 A lump rose in my throat and I was frozen in place, unable to look away. My heart pounded ferociously in anticipation. After what felt like an eternity, I shuffled forward and hesitantly reached for the shiny surface, fingertips hovering inches away. My vision blurred with tears and I saw my reflection in the mirror begin to cry as well. I gripped the edge of the mirror in despair. 
 
 `` Please...'' I begged, choking as a sob surfaced. `` I know you're there. Please... I'm so alone out here...'' 
 
 The girl within the metal frame shook her head, tears falling freely, and slowly raised her hand from the edge of the mirror as if to touch my face, but she could not reach beyond the surface of the glass. When my fingertips fell upon cool, smooth glass, realization set in; I felt my hope shatter and sank to the ground. 
 
 I was completely alone.
