Chance Meeting

A glass ceiling previewed the glimmering full moon.

It'd become night in New York City, and Chad and I had just strolled back into the Communal Mirror terminal.

The spacious indoor plaza showed few people wandering about, in contrast to earlier masses. Just one family still remained sitting beneath the mermaid fountain, while guards continued patrolling around.

"Woah, doesn't look like there's any lines for mirrors," Chad beside me said. He yawned before fixing his slumping mohawk. "Think I'll head straight home today though."

"Hmm? Don't feel like hanging at my place today?" I said.

"Nah, I'm beat. We chased around way too many birds, haha."

"It's still early where we're headed." I glanced at a wall clock that read 9:25. Differing time zones between New York and California meant three hours of difference. "Will your brother be home?"

"Yeah, I texted him to unlock our Home Mirror. No problem."

"Alright."

At the back of the terminal were rows of side-by-side Communal Mirrors. They stood upright like monoliths, and represented the strongest class of mirrors crafted with government features in mind. Elegant, art deco frames had their knobs and dials skillfully blended into the design, while strong stands ensured nothing would ever fall over.

I peered into my reflection, curious of how ruffled I appeared after a whole day hiking. My suit vest bore green stains and my cuffs were undone, but nothing major.

Beside me, Chad was already configuring another Communal Mirror. He twisted dials then inputted sequences of numbers, until the mirror showed his living room.

"Hold up!" he said. "I won't get to see Fate if I don't visit your place!"

"She's probably sleeping over at a guy's house," I sighed.

"No shame in me getting in line, haha!"

"She's almost twice your age."

"Better than half my age, ahaha!"

I couldn't roll my eyes harder. But his antics were something I'd grown used to, almost fond of even. Zany interactions never failed to bring us attention; being around him was refreshing after years of keeping myself invisible from everyone. Though now thanks to him, all eyes were on me.

Tick-tocking sounds rang from Chad's mirror. The automatic abort timer was winding down.

"Oh," he said. "Before I bail, you know where we're gonna bird next week?"

"Dunno. I'll try checking Spain or Japan's tourism routes."

"Sounds good." He gave a thumbs up that adjusted his sunglasses. "Talk to ya' later then, Chance."

"Same."

Chad waltzed into his living room through the Communal Mirror, before the portal shut behind him.

Then I was alone.

Central Park's terminal echoed the footsteps of people still wandering around. Other folks were activating distant Communals, warping home.

Guess I'll start heading home too. I grabbed my Mirror's white dial and began turning. Spin by spin I spun the dial towards specific numbers that matched our Home Mirror's coordinates. The twelve-number sequence—one I'd had memorized for years—locked in when I input an area code.

The mirror's reflective surface changed to show my living room thousands of miles away. Its image was blurred, almost foggy, though this was normal. One could see outgoing warps with clouded visuals, but couldn't see incoming warps at all.

I glanced over my shoulder, checking if anyone might follow me, before I hopped into the mirror.

Seamless. Darkness. The spacious house I'd departed this morning greeted me. Dim sunset through windows persisted, though it'd been night for hours already—whiplash between time zones.

Turning a red dial on the mirror behind me locked it once more.

Let's see what's new. I loosened my tie as I entered our kitchen. Ceiling lights turned themselves on. Nothing around seemed suspicious, except a note on the table.

"Hmmm?" I picked up the paper and read:

'Dear brother,

I'm gonna sleep at my boyfriend's house tonight. Thanks for breakfast.

Love, Fate <3'

Well no surprises here. But I was too exhausted to complain. I just stowed away my backpack and camera upstairs, before heading back to cook some dinner.

The night settled in slowly. Without Chad, things were boring. And without Fate, I had nothing to do. Nothing felt right anymore when I was alone. Nothing made sense. Walls full of portraits couldn't replace what felt missing.

A house with no people in it is just a building.

I flipped the lights on in my room. Movie posters watched me fling away my tie before I started unbuttoning clothes. The vest slipped off, followed by shoes, until just pants and a white dress shirt remained.

Then a glint somewhere caught my attention.

"Huh?" I went to investigate the large mirror atop my dresser. Square-shaped, the mirror boasted nothing along its frame, except a pink dial in the upper corner. Unlike Communals and Homes, this was a special, third category of mirror—a Repose Mirror. Engineered for maximum safety, Reposes were advertised as being unhackable; the drawback being they couldn't function as portals.

I tried turning the pink dial but it remained firm in place, as expected. The dial ensured natural teleportation properties were always suppressed.

Guess I'm seeing things, haha. I took the chance to fix my ruffled brown hair in the mirror. Exploring Central Park all day had worn my bad attempt at a pompadour, though it was still praiseworthy. Trying a new hairstyle was how me and Chad decided on letting loose.

But as I peered deeper into the mirror, something strange appeared.

Fog. The inside of the mirror became blurred, like veils of mist had spread. My reflection disappeared until nothing except white, muddled haze remained.

Is this . . .? I tried wiping the glass clean, but nothing rubbed off. It was an image on the other side, an image like a TV; an image like a portal.

My hands started shaking. Reality set in while I backed away and tried reasoning things. I-Impossible! That's a Repose Mirror! They're supposed to be impossible to hack! Reposes don't even work as portals! They're just regular mirrors!

Panting. Hyperventilating. I couldn't decide to run or find a weapon. But those thoughts cut short as the mirror began clearing.

Steadily, clouds of fog vanished, revealing someone's hand pressed against the glass. The other side of the mirror—submerged—showed a calm woman with eyes bluer than the water she was floating in. Her white dress, flowing in the currents, had puffed like a pufferfish as the girl's gaze finally met mine.

Huh? Is that a . . . Whisperer? But I'd been entranced with curiosity instead of fear. Her crystal-clear image beckoned my hand onwards to meet hers against the mirror. Our fingertips touched with nothing but an invisible wall between us. And when her long, blonde hair shifted in front of her eyes, I could almost see a glint.

Then, cracking sounds.

Water erupted out from the mirror, dousing me and my entire room as I instinctively caught the girl as she flew out.

We slid across hardwood flooring until hitting my bed frame. Water continued gushing from the mirror until enough cracks formed to shatter into pieces.

Balled in my arms, I could hear her panting, feel her heart racing against mine. She was in shock more than me. But I didn't know what to say, unsure if this could be someone dangerous.

"A-Are you okay?" I mustered.

No reply. She remained calm between my arms, breathing to relax herself. Then she finally looked up at me.

"Is this—the other world?" She spoke with a British accent.

"Other world?" I said. My hands unclasped her so we could both sit up. "What do you mean?"

But she ignored me, instead peering around the bedroom littered with water. My computer tower had gotten soaked along with anything close to the floor, while a sock drifted away as water flowed out beneath the door.

She doesn't really seem malicious? I watched her prop herself on my bed to stand up. She had an aura of elegance—of experience—like this was something she'd done several times before.

"Is this the mirror world? The world inside mirrors," she asked, still swiveling around.

"Ummm, I'm not sure what you mean, haha."

"Mirrors—do you use mirrors to travel?"

"Eh?" Distant memories recalled themselves: recollections of hearing stories since childhood, about another parallel world to ours once connected through mirrors. But it was just a fairy tale, nothing more.

The girl grabbed her dress and tried wringing out water. Her golden hair still remained soaked, along with a large, blue bow tied behind her back.

"Oh, do you need a towel?" I said before standing. "Erm, maybe you should shower first but—"

She bent over to pick up and inspect the Repose's pink dial. It was just a quick check, until she smiled.

"I'm so happy," she said. "I think I finally made it to the other side."

I played along. "You mean, you're really from the other mirror world? It's still kinda hard believing."

The girl glanced at me, like she was evaluating my trustworthiness. Then she shook her head. "Sorry, I don't think there's much I can explain right now. But it's true I'm from another dimension."

"So you're not a Whisperer or something?"

"Whisperer?"

"Well, don't worry about it." There's honestly a good chance she might not be lying. The Repose Mirror was acting weird earlier. "I'm not sure what you wanna do from here, but mind telling me your name for now?"

A pause. Her eyes met mine again as we gazed at one another without saying a word. But soon her same, glistening smile resurfaced.

"I'm Glint."