The Other Me

The first time I met the other me, I was in my bedroom hovering over all the candy I had collected from my run of Trick or Treat. I was happily splitting the chocolate bars from the lollipops when I felt a presence watching me.

I first thought the feeling came from the fear I felt of being caught. You see, not all of the candies were mine. Before I entered my room, I took 3 handfuls from my brother’s bucket. So the fear of my mum storming in deceived me into thinking I was imagining things. Of course, I soon realized I wasn’t.

As I turned to look behind me, I saw something moving at the corner of my eye. Quickly turning towards it, I found myself staring at the mirror in my bedroom. The mirror reflected me perfectly, except that I was standing and smiling.

I swallowed hard as I got to my feet. Walking slowly towards the mirror, I asked myself, “What is going on?”

To my surprise, my reflection replied, “Nothing. I’m just watching.”

Not being a big fan of ghost stories, I found the hair on my nape rising. I also had the urge to dive under my blanket and call for my mother. But just as I was about to act on it, my reflection said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m you, and I’m here to help you.”

“You… are?” I asked, skeptical at the way he grinned back at me.

“Yes. Just take me as your invisible twin.”

“O.K,” I merely replied.

Going back to the candy on the floor, I continued with the grouping. I tried my best to ignore the other me in the mirror, and when I was done I turned to see if he was still there. True enough, he was. He had not left, and was now seated in a position that looked as though he was sitting across from me.

“You might want to hide some of the candy. You know mum only allows a piece after dinner,” he said.

“You’re right,” I replied and did as I was told.

Since then, I’ve always done what he had told me to do. Sometimes, I would contemplate and question his morality, but he always had good reasoning. More often than not, I would lose in my arguments with him and follow his directions.

As I grew older with the other me, he became my closest friend. He was me after all, and nothing stood between us. What I didn’t know was that the more I trusteed him, the stronger he got.

On the day of my graduation, I found him hovering over my bed and no longer trapped in my bedroom mirror. In shock and delight, I sat right up and asked him how he did it. He merely shrugged and told me to hurry. He also said that I could be the one giving the valedictorian speech if I played a little trick.

I did pretty well in university and was in the list to give the speech on graduation day, but a fellow classmate topped me and she was chosen instead. I was not happy about it but I accepted it eventually, except that the other me did not. That morning, he told me to stain my classmate’s robe so she would be too embarrassed to get on stage. There was a moment of hesitation, but the other me insisted that I deserved to be the one in the limelight. Agreeing with him, I did as I was told.

When I saw my classmate that morning, I walked into her with a cup of coffee. She gasped in horror as I began to apologize profusely. Knowing her well enough, I offered my robe for her to use being sure she would turn me down out of her kind nature. She then told me to give the speech on her behalf and trusted I would do a good job.

Did I feel bad for using her trust to my benefit? Of course I did. But the other me said I did nothing wrong. She did not hate me or blame me for anything, instead she pat my back after I delivered the speech. I manipulated her because he told me too, and the manipulation did not stop.

After receiving my masters, I went on to work in a bank. I worked my way up with his help and found my way in the CEO’s chair. He would sit in my office all day, pitching me great ideas, and I would jot them down whenever a good one struck. Where I was then, was all because he guided me through. He was like the evil twin who had no conscience and I was the good one being corrupted. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I did not see his true colours until I became a billionaire.

I was lying in my bed one night, with a smile plastered on my face. I had just swindled billions from my company and placed the blame on a fellow colleague. I laughed at how my colleague was so easily blind sighted, but little did I know, I was a victim of it too.

When my happy soul was finally at rest, I was awakened by the other me. He stood by the side of my bed, with an eerie smile that did not terrify me as much as the knife in his hand. Before I could ask what it was for, he lifted it above my chest and plunged it down. Immediately, I felt my soul escaping my body and switching places with him. Unfortunately for me, I was not given the right to stand on my own and was sucked into my bedroom mirror.

Struck with horror, I pounded on the glass and demanded for my body back, but all he did was turn on his side and returned to a deep slumber. Confused and hurt, I realized I was the dumb fool who lost it all.

Now, I was the other me; the insignificant reflection of the beast I created.

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Can you guess the analogy? It’s greed. Greed starts off small but grows the more we feed it. Greed itself is greedy and would not stop till it gets what it wants, and that is all of you. It has a way of controlling our emotions and reactions, and it can come up with ingenious plans. It also ultimately makes us a fool for thinking we have it all. When greed wins, we lose.

I will be embarking on the theme of ‘7 Deadly Sins’ with my short stories for the next few weeks. Pride and Greed have been done and I hope to address the rest in similar dark premises. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this story and took something from it. Do let me know what you think as I’m looking forward to your comments!

© 2013 Jeyna Grace

(For more short stories, click HERE)

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