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Phantasmagoria

Mirrors. Should they be accessible to everyone?

By Dharrsheena Raja SegarranPublished about a year ago Updated about a month ago 3 min read
Top Story - March 2023
107
Photo by Stephany Lorena on Unsplash

LIST OF POTENTIAL TRIGGERS (INCLUDING SPOILERS) ARE PROVIDED AT THE BOTTOM
Image created by author with Samsung Photo Editor

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn’t my own. I couldn’t recognize myself anymore. No matter how gaunt the mirror showed my features, I still had to put on my coat and a confident face.

“Dr. Berowne, we need you. Her contraction is less than 5 minutes apart and crowning is positive. But she may not be able to push as she’s growing weak from the pain. Should we administer an epidural before she passes out?”

Ummm, rudeeeee!

I glanced away from the nurse to the mirror and rolled my eyes. You got this, Ellora! Just deliver the baby for now!

I followed the nurse unwillingly, taking one step for every six of hers. She kept looking back to make sure I was following as she scurried toward the delivery room.

A heavy cloak of foreboding blanketed me as I entered the delivery room. I wrote it off as me just being tired from lack of sleep.

With her knees bent and her feet wide apart on the bed, the patient’s head lolled against her pillow. I took notice of her features. Gaunt, just like my reflection in the mirror. Am I projecting my own feelings onto her?

“Dr. Berowne, she’s unconscious. Shall I administer the GA for you to be able to proceed with an emergency C-section?” the anesthesiologist asked tentatively.

I contemplated for a moment before answering, “No, there’s no need for that. Please wake her up, we’ll administer an epidural and proceed with a normal delivery”.

The nurse who rudely interrupted my mirror-gazing piped up, “I’m sorry, Dr. Berowne but it seems they’ve tried that to no avail”.

She flinched as I glared. I hate excuses. “Don’t worry, we can still proceed with a normal delivery”.

Everyone present exchanged glances and hesitated.

“God, why do I always need to work with such incompetence?!”, I roared while I examined the crowning. If I did it right, I could save her from having to go through an emergency C-section.

I reached in between her legs with my gloved hand. Slowly, I inserted one finger in between the opening and the baby’s head. Eventually, all five fingers of my right hand were inside, cupping the right side of the baby’s head.

With one hand inside the patient, I turned to look at everyone. They seemed horrified but too afraid to say anything. My mask hid my smirk.

By Ani Kolleshi on Unsplash

I did the same thing with my left hand. The baby’s head fit my palms perfectly and all I had to do was pull the baby out.

I slowly tugged but it was vacuum tight. I gave the baby’s head a few more tugs but it didn’t budge.

So I yanked it and there was a loud sickening pop!

I turned victoriously to everyone only to find them on the floor. Those weaklings fainted!

“Do..doctor? Is..is that my bab..baby?” the patient stammered.

She must have woken up from the pop.

Pulling my mask down with my bloody fingers so that she can see my grin, “Yes, indeed! You’re a mother now!”

“Oh, I’m so happy! Is it a boy or a girl?”

“Good question! Hang on, hang on!” I said as I put my right hand into her, caught hold of the baby’s body and pulled it out.

“It’s a boy!” I declared with the baby’s head in my left hand and the body in my right still attached to the umbilical cord.

The door opened and a nurse walked in, holding a tray of food and some schizophrenia medication. His blood ran cold, seeing the amount of blood in the room, “ELLORA! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR BABY?”

Ummm, rudeeeee.

He didn’t even let me answer. He ran out the room screaming, “SHE DELIVERED HER OWN BABY! SHE DELIVERED HER OWN BABY!”

I attached the baby’s head to its neck. I didn’t like the look of it.

I detached it and it made me giggle!

I attached it and I didn’t like it!

I detached it and it made me giggle!

I kept repeating this over and over. I just couldn’t stop giggling when it was detached.

The doctor came in and asked me softly, “Ellora, why did you do this?” I pointed to my reflection in the mirror.

“She wanted a doll!”
__________________________________________
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LIST OF POTENTIAL TRIGGERS (INCLUDING SPOILERS)

  1. Body horror
  2. Infant death
  3. Graphic death/violence
  4. Pregnancy
  5. Childbirth
  6. Blood/Gore
  7. Murder
  8. Decapitation
  9. Mutilation
  10. Mental health/illness
  11. Schizophrenia
  12. Hallucinations
  13. Hospitalisation

slasherpsychologicalfiction
107

About the Creator

Dharrsheena Raja Segarran

My mental health decline brought about a lot of darkness and I embraced it. It now flows out mostly as Dark Stories and Poetry.

❤️ Erythrophile ❤️
✨️Glitteringly Savage✨️
🖤 Elegantly Disturbed Mind 🖤

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Reader insights

Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

Top insights

  1. Excellent storytelling

    Original narrative & well developed characters

  2. Compelling and original writing

    Creative use of language & vocab

  3. Eye opening

    Niche topic & fresh perspectives

  1. On-point and relevant

    Writing reflected the title & theme

  2. Easy to read and follow

    Well-structured & engaging content

  3. Heartfelt and relatable

    The story invoked strong personal emotions

  4. Expert insights and opinions

    Arguments were carefully researched and presented

  5. Masterful proofreading

    Zero grammar & spelling mistakes

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Comments (78)

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  • John Cox23 days ago

    I read the list of potential triggers AFTER I read the story. Not sure if that was the correct order, though. Seriously, though, this was an amazing and frightening story! Great work, Dharrsheena!

  • Alan Arnoldabout a month ago

    hhahaha holy crap! Yep that some ability you have, to dunk your head that deep into the sea of the macabre!

  • Rene Volpi 3 months ago

    Crazy glue sometimes works like a miracle. 🤗

  • Denise E Lindquist3 months ago

    Well-deserved top story!!❤️😭

  • Andrew C McDonald4 months ago

    Wow! You can truly deliver a case of the creeps. Fantastic.

  • You kept me glued to the story! It is not easy to weave psychological and physical horror, but you succeeded. Congratulations!🏅

  • Real Poetic10 months ago

    This is packed with so much raw emotions. You did a great job and thanks for the trigger warnings. 💜

  • Andrew C McDonald10 months ago

    Holy Crap! This hit a trigger with me personally based on the delivery of my oldest son. The female doctor doing the delivery wasn't very experienced yet. The baby's heart rate had been slowing down per the monitors and the probes had come loose; thus, the doctor was unable to monitor my son's heartrate. She was, for lack of a better term, frantic. Thank the stars above that another doctor, a man by the name of Quinones who was much more experienced just happened to pop his head into the delivery room door at that time. There I was standing next to the hospital bed on which my wife was lying with her legs propped in the stirrups and in agony of both physical and emotional pain, as the OBGYN was busily freaking out .... Dr Quinones, whom I knew from the past when he had delivered a couple of my sister's children, asked if anyone needed assistance prior to his departing from duty. .... Next thing I know, Dr Quinones has taken a quick perusal, told the nurse to "cut her there" (at the top of the vaginal area). He then softly elbowed me aside from my hovering stance next to the delivery bed... This man reached between the upright railing bars on one side, across my wife's upper abdomen, and grasped the railing on the far side of the bed. He then pushed his arm "down" across my wife's stomach ... out pops the baby - who was indeed a tad blue and with the cord around his neck. Dr. Quinones quickly addresses this... Suffice to say, his next words were, "Its' a boy." So... I thank providence that Dr. Quinones was there. My son is now 36 years old and a father of three. All this to say..., I have a bit of a thing with deliveries. Lol. BTW, my wife and I have 3 sons and a daughter now - all adults. I was there for every one (even when it was delivery time).

  • Jay Kantor10 months ago

    Dear Dhar ~ Although I kept looking the other way while reading to avoid getting blurry, but 'whew' I got through it, thanks for the warning. You have a unique way to 'Present' and I admire your talent and skill! Jay Kantor ~ Fellow 'Worldwide' Creator, Ink. 'Senior' Vocal Author, Chatsworth, California

  • Heather N King11 months ago

    The way you expertly weave suspense and horror together creates a truly immersive experience for the reader. Your vivid descriptions and attention to detail bring every scene to life, sending shivers down my spine. It's evident that you possess a remarkable talent for storytelling. Keep up the fantastic work, and I can't wait to read more of your captivating stories in the future!

  • Donna Fox (HKB)11 months ago

    Dharrsheena, firstly I wanted to thank you for the trigger warning! I appreciate the forethought and care you have shown for your readers in adding the trigger warnings.It just shows what an incredible amount of respect you have for your readers! 💜 Your main character has this arrogant air about him that I kind of appreciate as one of those characters you love but also love to hate. The part with the sickening pop, my jaw dropped at what happened. At first I thought I miss understood but as I read further, you confirmed it.. they ripped the babies head off. 😳 This was so shocking, vivid and realistic for me that I laughed in a shock for a few minutes. What a terrifying but so well written story! Little traumatized but you gave me fair warning! 😓

  • Vietduc11 months ago

    Not the end that I expected. Well done.

  • L.C. Schäfer11 months ago

    Yikes is all I got! 😁 It reads sort of cartoonish. Like a child's understanding of how babies are born. Was that on purpose? Pregnancy is a bit of a mine for horror both in terms of psychology and gore (found myself nodding along to a lot of Thavien's comment) but I feel like you kinda wasted that opportunity here. You might as well have had ACME printed on the doctor's scrubs, and an anvil drop from the ceiling and squash someone 😁 I wondered if that was a stylistic choice, and you were being kind to us and trying not to give us all a lifetime of nightmares, by softening it with slapstick comedy 😁

  • Thavien Yliaster12 months ago

    Reading this, I was like, "There's two separate women's dialogue going on in here. The only reason why the grammar wouldn't indicate as such when it comes to the narration thought train is if the passengers are on the same train. I.e. 1 person, two minds." Seemed pretty standard for a horror story. Sadly, as soon as I read "pull the baby out" and "vacuum tight" I figured it was going to be a more gruesome version along the lines of "The Planned Pregnancy." Wouldn't surprise me if it was the same woman, too. Goodness, it could even be Ruby from "Red." I was just like, "Wait, there's a pregnancy... and this story is written by Dharrsheena. She's gonna do x, y, z, isn't she?" *reads on* "She did x, y, z." I'm no angel. Heck, my haiku story "Reunited" has the parents and their newborn being killed, and You remember what Lou Carcolh did to that one family. Still, aside from the baby just being a helpless victim due to another more mobile sentient beings circumstances, what if the baby was anthropomorphized in a way to be viewed as an antagonistic enemy. Tons of shows have done that. You could even do it with the state of pregnancy and how a woman looses her identity and sense of value as the life growing within her steals her identity, as if assigning herself a new one, whilst changing her body against her. The attention she feels shifts away from her and too her infant/fetus growing in her belly. If You're looking for more pregnancy horror read the first "A Game of Thrones" book (where the show does a disjustice) about Dany's birth and how her child becomes perverted by dark magic. Rhaneara's birth of her stillborn daughter in the show "House of the Dragon" is very heart aching, and depression inducing, even for Daemon. Dude grieved hard. In the books it's written that her babe was clawing its way out of her. Even Maegor's wives had some horrific births in the book "Fire and Blood." Besides that, only other thing that comes to mind was that one blonde lady who had another stillborn child at her house in the movie "The Help." Later, Dharrsheena. Keep up the good work.

  • Paul Stewart12 months ago

    I love how unfiltered you are! This was incredible - bonkers, psychotic, hilarious, and I also enjoyed the list of potential triggers. Was I supposed to enjoy the list of triggers? I am not sure. Oh well! I am also glad because I don't need too keep burning!

  • Musa Salman12 months ago

    Great words man !!! Truely impressive Read my story too if anyone is interested in horror stories : https://vocal.media/horror/the-old-mansion-on-the-hill-73b50glm

  • Stephanie Downard12 months ago

    You always do such an excellent job at writing horror and incorporating twists! I loved your take on this challenge. It was perfectly disturbing.

  • Mahalakshmi12 months ago

    Unexpected 😳 chillinggg

  • Test12 months ago

    So chilling. And that twist hit like a freight train. Really well done!

  • Meagan Dion12 months ago

    I'm officially disturbed. Well done.

  • Tiffany Gordon 12 months ago

    Yes Ma'am! That is how you write an amazing horror story! Phenomenal writing & awesome suspense work! Way 2 Go Shee Shee!

  • Max Russell12 months ago

    Well, this story will stick with me for a while. You write great horror. Well done!

  • Hamza Shafiq12 months ago

    amazing

  • Caroline Janeabout a year ago

    😵😵😵 this is properly gruesome!! Wowzers!!!

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