"Huh?" Replied Tim
"Never mind," Steve said. Scratching his short red hair, Steve sighed. "Well, if that's an alternate version of both of us then I should be able to touch myself."
"I’m sure you’d just love that, " Tim said with a roll of his eyes.
Steve shot Tim a look before reaching forward. Steve’s reflection did the same. He sighed in relief when his hand touched the mirror and nothing happened.
"See, it's just a mirror."
Tim shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, I thought, I dunno what I thought. Something about the mirror just seemed off."
"Well, do you want to just forget it then?" Steve asked.
Tim looked at the mirror again; the feeling had subsided. "No, let's get it."
"I'll go find someone," Steve said.
When Steve walked off, Tim again looked into the mirror. The feeling returned albeit weaker. Steve returned a few minutes later with a guy that Tim assumed was the owner of the house.
"Ah yes, that mirror," the owner said.
"That mirror?" Tim asked.
"We're selling it because we're getting a new mirror that goes with the new wallpaper."
"I ... see. How much?" Tim asked.
"How about twenty-five dollars?" the man said.
If Tim were a cartoon character, he’d have done a double take. "Are you sure?"
The man nodded. "I’m in a generous mood today."
Tim reached into his pocket, retrieved his wallet and paid the man.
"Thank you," the man said.
"So, how are we going to get this thing to your place?" Steve asked.
"How much for that raccoon statue?" a teen behind Steve asked.
"Pardon me gentlemen. Thank you for your purchase," the man before walking off.
"I guess we'll carry it," Tim replied.
"That's going to be fun," Steve said.
Steve took one end of the mirror and Tim the other. The walk back to Tim's house involved much grunting. The mirror’s weight added time to the walk. When they got to Tim's house, they walked it up his stairs and to his room, placing it in place of the old one. Tim looked at it, admitting it looked good.
"What do you think?" Tim asked.
"Looks good," Steve replied. Steve gazed into the mirror. He seemed to stare off into space for several seconds. "Hmmm."
"What?" Tim asked.
"It's nothing."
"Come on, tell me!" Tim demanded.
"It was weird, for a second, it was as if I was looking at another version of myself," Steve said.
"Now who's the crazy one?" Tim asked.
"It must be our imaginations. I still don't see goatees on our faces," Steve.
Tim rolled his eyes. "That joke is getting old."
"Sorry. Well, if it's creeping you out, we can always return it," Steve said.
"No, I don't want to lug that thing again. My arms are sore enough as it is!"
"All right. Well, I have to get going. I'll see you later."
Tim nodded and Steve departed.
* * *
Later that evening, Tim relaxed on the couch reading the help wanted section of the newspaper while watching TV. He skimmed through the ads, seeing that most wanted experience he didn't have and/or involved re-locating, something he didn't have the money to do.
He was about to give up hope when he spotted a potential hit. A company was looking for people to dress as mascots for commercials to help sell some of their products. Tim was a little unsure of it but decided to read the posting. The company sold various products including food and vitamins for kids. They used various cartoon animals for their products.
"I'm crazy for looking into this but what do I have to lose?"
He decided to call Steve, who had a job but was looking. Perhaps they could apply together.
After picking up the telephone, he dialled. Steve picked up after two rings. "Hello?"
"Hey, do you still have a copy of the paper?" Tim asked.
"I think so," Steve replied.
"Look at the bottom left hand corner of page 4 of the help wanted section."
Tim waited as Steve put the telephone down and retrieved his paper. He heard the rush of the papers a minute later.
"Okay, I see it; the mascot one? Isn't that stuff a little ... weird?"
"Well, yeah, but it does say that it pays well. We act like idiots for some commercials. We'll be in costumes so no one will know it's us. Besides, one of their mascots is a raccoon. I know you like raccoons."
"True. Well, I guess it's worth a try. The worst they can say is no."
After hanging up, Tim called the number. There was no one there. However, they gave a website to apply from. Tim went to the website and filled out the application. Most of the questions were the usual ones one would expect, although there were a few about his favourite colours and foods, which he thought unusual. After filling the application, Tim sent it away.
* * *
After spending a few days doing his usual activities, Tim received a call to come in for an interview the next day. Afterwards, he called Steve, who apparently received a similar call. They'd scheduled his interview only thirty minutes after they'd planned Steve. Tim knew that would make it almost impossible to get advice from Steve.
Tim shrugged his shoulders, "oh well, how hard can this interview be?"
Several of Tim’s attempts to duplicate the effects of the mirror over those days hadn’t worked so Tim was convinced it was safe.
The next morning, Tim was getting ready for the interview. After dressing in his suit, he stood in front of the mirror, this time receiving the unsettling feeling from it.
"Man, are you looking at your reflection again?" It was Mark, Tim's younger brother who’d broken the first mirror.
"Hey, if you didn't break my other mirror, I wouldn’t have had to get a new one. You're lucky you didn't get seven years bad luck!"
"It was an accident!"
"How is playing baseball in the house an accident?" Tim asked.
Tim looked back into the mirror. For a second he swore the reflection of his brother was different somehow. It was as though the reflection regretted smashing the other mirror.
"Um ... it ... um ... gotta go!" the kid said before running off.
Tim shook his head, took one last look at his reflection and headed downstairs.
The bus ride to his interview lasted about 35 minutes. When he arrived, he saw an upscale five-story building. Cars filled the parking lot and people in suits loitered by the front doors. Some drank coffee while others smoked. Tim walked to the front doors, nodding to each of them as he passed by them.
Inside the lobby of the building, he approached the desk where a secretary was sitting.
"Hi, my name is Tim, I'm here for an interview at 12:45 with a Don Adams."
The young woman looked at Tim and smiled. "Ah yes, Tim. You must be here about the mascot position, welcome. Would you like something to drink?"
Tim shrugged his shoulders, "Sure, I wouldn’t mind a glass of water"
The attendant smiled, nodded, stood up and walked out of the room. She returned a minute later with a glass of water, which she handed to Tim. He thanked her and she asked him to sit down, saying that Mr Adams would be with his shortly.
Tim waited for five minutes before Don walked into the lobby. He appeared to be in his thirties, had short blonde hair and wore a dark blue suit. They shook hands and Don showed Tim to his office.
Don's office was spacious with potted plants and a desk with a computer. He directed Tim a seat on the side of the desk closest to the door while Don sat on the opposite side.
"Thank you for coming Tim, how are you today?" Don asked.
"Not bad, a little nervous," Tim replied.
"That's all right," Don said with a smile. "So, what have you read about the position?"
Tim mentioned what the ad said.
"We believe in throwing ourselves into the position. When you don that suit, you're not just pretending to be the character, you become him."
"I can do that," Tim said.
"That's great. There are several characters available. Why don't we see which one would be best for you?" Don asked.
Tim nodded.
The rest of the interview went as well as Tim expected. They decided to send him home with one of the costumes to test his acting ability with it. The character was a raccoon named Billy. Tim wondered how Steve fared and how he would react to the character.
The bus ride home was interesting enough. Tim received many strange looks from people, although no one bothered asking him for details.
Once Tim was home, he called Steve. He too had a raccoon character, albeit one called Fred. Tim invited Steve to come over to try on their costumes together. Steve agreed.
Ten minutes later. Steve was at Tim's house, having brought his costume with him.
"This should be interesting. Um, what happens if your brother sees us?" Steve asked.
"Then I'll shoo him off," Tim said.
"Okay," Steve said.
They walked upstairs. Tim decided to keep his clothes on under the suit while Steve elected to be in his briefs.
"Geeze, you're going to almost naked under that thing? " Tim asked.
"Yep," Steve said. He shook his head at Tim's look. "They get hot; I don't want to overheat."
"Whatever," Tim said.
Once they had the costumes on. They looked at each other.
"Well, hello, Billy," Steve said.
"Hi Fred," Tim replied.
"Come on, get into the role. Don't just pretend to be a raccoon person, while in that suit you are a raccoon person," Steve said.
"Okay, okay. Hi Fred!" Tim said, this time with much greater enthusiasm.
"That's the spirit!" Steve said.
The duo walked over to the mirror to look at their reflections. Tim heard his brother walking up "Hey guys, Halloween isn't for almost four months."
Tim looked into the mirror, trying to ignore Mark. He received the same strange feeling from the mirror. He shook his head. For some reason, it felt like he wasn’t looking at a reflection of him and Steve in raccoon costumes but actual raccoon men! Steve had grey fur and the classic mask, as did Tim. Both had tails with what appeared to be four rings and a black tip. In fact, they seemed to be twins.
Then, it got bizarre. The reflection depicted not just Tim and Steve as raccoon people but Mark as well!
"Tim, are you seeing us as..."
"Yes, raccoon people. What the heck is going on?"
Tim looked at his costumed arms. They still looked as though they were a costume! Yet, the reflection was that of real raccoon people!
He looked once more into the mirror and for a second felt dizzy. He closed his eyes.....