I have known Ron for most of my life. His face is an array of emotions not many people understand. That crimped brow means that he is pissed. Who wouldn’t when I called him from his supposed ‘resume writing session’ just to show him some dingy mirror I picked from Finnick’s yard sale?
“Is this it?” He said. By the urgency of my message, he thought something bad happened to me. He rushed over here with only a hoodie and his blue chullo over his stale-bedroom smelling clothes.
“Wait till you see this. Ron Norton.”
The mirror heard the name as it left my mouth. The same machinations happened - the mirror glowed and Ron’s disembodied head appeared from the singularity.
I know that expression on his face. It’s his ‘what the fuck?’ face.
“What the fuck?” he said. “Is that me?”
“No, it’s Jamar Obama. Yes, you fucking idiot. It’s you.”
He leaned closer but I warned him not to touch the surface. I do not know what would happen if he entered and possessed himself. You know what? I am curious about what is going to happen. So, I pushed him and saw him disappear inside. As soon as he got in, a bright flash of light beamed above. Jon crashed down on top of me, his head ringing, and my body hurting from his weight.
“What the fuck did you do to me?” He looked at his arms and crawled away. “It is a bad trip there, dude. Like I have no senses for an entire minute. Did you spike my drink?”
“How can I spike your drink if I haven’t given you anything to drink?”
“You got me there,”
What a fucking idiot.
I told him about the powers of the mirror and how it works. Tell a name and it will show it. Enter and live the life of the person you call out. Say your real name and you will return to your own body. The rules are simple enough to bore inside his head. He pushed me aside and used the mirror for his own. He called out several townsfolk’s names and their heads appeared in the reddish mist. In the middle of his rapid name call-out, he smiled with a sudden realization in his head.
“Jac Effron,” he said. Something different happened this time. Instead of the head of a famous American actor appearing in the mirror, the previous head disappeared and words appeared in its stead. It says ‘Too Far’. Ron said another famous person’s name, now an actor overseas. “Tom Rolland”, the words grew redder before returning to normal.
“Well, that is a bummer,” Ron said.
“Let me try, Oliver Holmes.” He’s a guy I know from the next city. We met once or twice due to our shared interest in building another library here in Misty Hollow. A long time has passed since I last saw him. I wonder what he looks like right now.
‘Too Far’, the mirror said once more. It means there is a range to the power of the mirror. And that range does not extend beyond the boundaries of the city. I wonder what would happen if we possess someone and walk out of the mirror’s range. Will we remain or will we return to our mortal coil? That is a question for another day because I could see from Ron’s face that he is ecstatic to try the mirror’s power.
“Who are you going to possess?” I ask. Knowing him, I know he’d possess hot guys around town. Knowing him, I was baffled when he chose me. It’s just a try he said. Baby steps. As soon as he gets to experience it working, he’ll return. I walked around the topic of me possessing him this morning but I think it is fair to let him experience being me. And besides, I would get to know how it feels like to be possessed. I nodded. With a giddy smile, he said my name and stepped inside
The last thing I saw is the tails of his chullo hat disappearing inside the mirror. Everything went dark in an instant. Like a quick cut to the next scene. The next thing I know, I am shirtless in bed. My arms are behind my head and I was in the middle of uttering a name before I took control. I hear a thud inside the dresser. Ron crawled back to the room with a grin on his face.
“Why am I shirtless?” I asked. I grabbed the brown polo-shirt beside me and dressed quickly. The room is chilly and I don’t want to experience any damn cold.
“What are you? A girl? You have no body hair down there, man.”
I turn red at the mention. We’re close friends, I get it. And I have seen his dick this morning. But it’s hella embarrassing when he saw my own. Out of all the things he could mention, I’m glad it’s only the hair.
“I shave. You shave too, don’t you?”
“Touché,”
We went back inside the dresser. The mirror is in its blank form, waiting for the next mention of a name. I looked at Ron, his toothy stupid grin smiled at me. God, I hate that grin. It’s so cute and so stupid. Ron looked at me, seeing me breathe as we waited for a consensus on who we are going to possess.
The dusk is ripe for possession. The town is lively due to the upcoming elections. Parties are found left and right. People are out in the streets and businesses are open until 8 PM to capitalize on this fact. Ron and I looked at each other and like the like-minded idiots that we are, we chose to do what?