The Shadow in The Mirror
I awoke standing in a large house, from my peripheral the slightly blurry light tan walls of the inside of a house appeared, a buttercup yellow staircase trimmed in white a few feet Infront of me, on the wall below the staircase hung a large oval mirror, I remember it was trimmed but at this time I cannot recall the design of it, as the dream played out normally of myself just walking down the hallway I stopped in front of the mirror in shock, catching the sight of something in the mirror that I knew couldn’t be there…but it was.
It was a bright red door floating a distance away within the mirror, each time I passed the mirror I would find this scene within it awaiting me, it was always open with a shadow-like figure, made of what looked like a black smoke and mist mixed together in the shape of a man but less defined, standing within the doorway it never passing the threshold.
Every time I would pass the mirror, I would gaze into it being unable to pull myself away, the shadow seemed to hover in the doorway moving as if it wanted to pass the threshold but could not, It completely captured me as if I were in a trance my mind searching desperately for answers I would not yet find, I could hear what sounded like a construction machine scraping at bedrock ominously in the background, slightly muted for some reason, I could feel everything the shadow was feeling like we were connected somehow, I could feel it pulling me… calling to me, a desperation balled up in my chest and stomach, like that of someone trying to get to someone they needed to save, is the best way I can describe it.
For some reason it wanted to get to me, I sensed it was no danger to me but a feeling that I can only describe as the natural fear humans have of anything that is not commonly known to them.
As I stood at the mirror each time, I was always eventually interrupted by a young girl in her 20’s that looked eerily similar to a family member of mine, I would ask “do you see that?” and she would look at me with a slightly worried expression and say “no, I don’t “ trying to act as if I were crazy and pull me away from the mirror.
I was always shocked and fascinated by the sight but never worried that it would hurt me, It only stood there as if trying to send a message with its presence and threw some kind of connection I felt it all; Love, sadness, pain and a sense of longing… a deep sense of longing.
This happened at least three times till I walked by the mirror one day and noticed the door was now off its hinges and set neatly beside the doorframe, I began to panic thinking it-he had left, I called the girl over and asked “ don’t you see that?!” she looked and saw the door, I know she did by her expression but said there was nothing there and pulled me away again as I panicked and looked back at the doorway within the mirror now filled with a bright yellow glowing light, the dream then ended.
I awoke in shock with this aching feeling in my chest, for this shadow I didn’t even know yet.
Author. NP
09/04/2024
Note: that none of these images are my own, only used as the closest visual descriptors of what I’ve seen In my “dreams” (collected from Pinterest)
like this but no furniture and taller wall (will look for a better reference picture