Always Pay Your Debts

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own. The man in the mirror was smiling at me.

"What the hell?" I said.

"You should have paid the entree fee to the fair. I'm here to teach you a lesson," the reflection said. I stepped backwards.

"How is this possible? What the hell are you?" I asked.

"You were told you were cursed. I'm your curse, welcome to hell," The reflection said.

"I thought I heard that old man mumbling. What exactly did he say?"

"Vei fi bântuit de reflecția ta până când îți vei învăța lecția," The reflection said.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It's an old Romanian curse passed down through the generations. It means I'm here to stay until I teach you a lesson," The reflection said.

"I'm sorry. You have to understand, the hole in the fence made it so tempting to sneak in. It's not my fault they didn't fix the fence. Yes, I probably should have at least paid for all the food I had and games I played. I wandered off after eating and playing, not realizing one of the carnival workers was following me, or that he knew old Romanian curses. That's on me, I apologize. Can we move on?" I asked.

"What kind of lesson would that be? Now you're being followed by your own living reflection, and there's nothing you can do, except pay your due. Or die," the reflection said.

"What do you want me to do? How do I break the curse?" I asked.

"Return to the fair, pay your fee," my reflection whispered.

"Wait a second, I'm going to say no. You're stuck in the mirror, what are you going to do about it. You're just a talking reflection. I'm probably hallucinating, the carnie just slipped me some drugs after he cursed me," I said.

"You've been warned," the reflection said. His face mutated, his skin melted off and he looked horrifyingly hideous. Then his hand reached out of the mirror and grabbed me, slamming my face into the glass. I fell to the ground. The mirror shattered everywhere. I stood up slowly, and was in pain. I looked in a shattered piece of glass and I had cuts and bruises all over my face. A trickle of blood was running down my left cheek.

"Stupid reflection. Your mirrors broken, what are you going to do now?" I asked. The broken mirror parts that were scattered about started drifting towards each other, and the mirror started repairing itself, the pieces melting into one another.

"Oh, crap," I said. The reflection in the newly restored mirror smiled at me, then loudly shouted "I'm back."

Then the reflection crawled out of the mirror.

"You'll never catch me, I'll never pay your fee. You had no right to curse me. I snuck in fair and square. Please leave me alone," I said, turned around and started to run. The reflection grabbed my shoulder with a powerful grip. He forced me to turn around and face him.

"If you’re my reflection, how are you stronger then me?" I asked.

"When you go to sleep, I work out at the gym," The reflection said.

"Really?" I asked.

"No, idiot. There is no gym in the mirror. I’m a curse, not a normal reflection. Now come with me and pay your debt," My reflection said. He was now standing in front of me. His breath smelled like a can of old tuna. Did my breath smell, I wondered.

"I’m not going with you anywhere. I’ll stand right…” my reflection interrupted me, grabbed me by the hair and started dragging me back to the fair. I was screaming for help, but people just stared at me.

“Why is nobody helping? I’m being kidnapped,” I said.

“He’s on drugs,” I heard somebody say.

“They can’t see me, jerkoff. You look crazy,” my reflection said.

“We’ll, crap,” I said.

He dragged me to the entrance and said “pay the fee.” I took out my wallet and said “charge me for a ticket.” They charged my Visa $5.

“All this to save five measly dollars. Was it worth it?” My reflection asked.

“No sir,” I said. The ticket taker looked at me like I was insane, probably wondering who I was talking to.

My reflection then dragged me to all the vendors that I had stolen from and made me pay them too.

“Are we done? Please let me go now,” I said, and started to cry hoping to get some sympathy.

“One last thing,” the reflection said and dragged me to the old man who cursed me.

“Hey, I paid for everything. Can you remove the curse,” I said.

“What curse? I never cursed you,” the old man said.

“What do you mean? What were those Romanian words you said to me?”

“I don’t know how you recognized the Romanian language, but I just called you a jerk for stealing and sneaking in,” he said.

“Then who’s the…” I turned to look at my reflection and he was gone.

“Maybe it was your guilty conscience coming to life,” the man suggested.

Someone familiar in a uniform came walking up to me.

“There you are, Mr. Cromwell. I’ve been looking all over for you. Time to get on the bus and go back home so you can take your medications on time. You don’t want another hallucination, do you? Did you enjoy your day out?” He asked me and smiled. I nodded and smiled back.