mirrored By two

how you see it

Stalen was right , it was the best day ever ,

even tho he pretended he didn't like it all

the day long " shopping is for girls " he

kept complaining , but he was secretly

enjoying every single minute of it . He

had went to over 12 shops to finally

find some clothing he liked that fit ,

the shirt was plain blue and the pants

black , yes , stalen liked simple colors

and simple things . But the best part

Of the day was when Dan asked him

a question " do you want other cloths ?

You only choose one " " nah , I don't

want anymore , one is fine " dan

smiled and said " well , we still

have one more shop to visit " ,

puzzled , stalen followed .

53

" an iPad ! Really ? I ... I never had

something as valuable as this .. it

...petersons son had one and i...

I never imagine I'll get one ...it ...

thank you " stalen said quitely "

it's nothing really " Dan answered ,

smiling really big , he felt great

because he worried his gift won't

please stalen " well , let's go

home and then you can try out

your ipad " stalen nodded , and

they both walked to the minivan ,

their home ' that's the best part

about the minivan , your house

is always close to you " he thought .

He changed in world record timing

and went into his bed to check out

his first valuable belonging .

54

" er... hey , look " stalen called , he always

trys to avoid calling Dan because he didn't

know what to adress him " Dan walked

towards him and peered at is ipad "

is that another of the games your

downloading ? " he asked " yeah ,

is it nice ? " " great" Dan answered ,

wiping his hand on his cloth .thats

how the whole day was spent until

night came " well , it's getting late ,

aren't you gonna go to bed ?" Dan

asked , spent taken didn't want to

dissapoint Dan just after he got

him an iPad so he nodded and

went to bed .

55

Stalen was still awake even after he

heard Dan go to bed , his eyes just

didn't seem to close , he tried

changing his postion into a more

comfortable one but he still couldn't

fall asleep , stalen sighed and pulled

the blankets of him , and got out , slowly

so as to not wake the snoring Dan , he

walked towards the outside window ,

There was a full moon that day , and

it shone ever so brightly , as stalen

looked outside , seeking the comfort

the moon always gave him , his eyes

caught something , an envelope " an

envelope ? That's odd , envelope's are

so old now , it's mostly just mails on

devices or something " stalen thought ,

he wanted to check it out , but his gut

kept telling him not to , so he just went

back to bed , and right so , because he

heard Dan's footsteps walking right

outside of his room .

56

He next day when stalen woke up he

found Dan already in the drivers street

" hi " stalen said "goodmorning stalen "

Dan said cheerily . Stalen once again

found burnt breakfast ready for him ,

grinning , he say down and ate , after

he finished he went to the bathroom

then changed , he thought he should

if Dan is driving , he checked himself

out in the bathroom mirror , his new

cloth looked great . when he came

out he found Dan already seated on

the table , holding the envelope he

so badly wanted to see "hey stalen ,

Soo ... err.. there's something I need

to tell you " he chuckled nervously

"what is it " stalen asked suspiously .

" well , your mom and err .. your

family asked you to come visit

them and.. " " no " stalen intrupted

marching back into his room ,

" please stalen , I can't say no ,

I .. please don't make it hard for

me . Just .. just this one visit ,

please " stalen didn't answer ,

but finally , after a long time ,

he nodded .

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" thanks , thank you , well , the date said today so.."

"you were gonna go and take me anyway , it wasn't

my choice , if the date is today.." stalens voice

trailed off , his eyes cold "no no it's just that they

said...you now ... ok , well , Im there , I've been driving

all night to the adress they wrote, well , let's get out

now since youve changed already " stalen grunted

and existed the minivan , Dan right behind him ,

nevoursly fingering his hands .

58

Stalen stood onto the streets " all i see

is deserted area , not a single house ,

is this some kind of jo.." before stalen

could continue , he fell inside the street

itself and right onto a white painted floor .

"Ke" groaned stalen ," smart huh ? No one

will know , honestly , I'm really impressed

how nicely the trapdoor blended with the

rest of the street , they won't open that

trapdoor unless they're welcoming

someone " "some kind of welcome "

stalen murmered , rubbing his aching

back . , everywhere he looks he sees

plain white empty room that it made

feel like he's some creepy maze "Well ,

in the envelope it says theyre in room

206 " stalen looked around to find a

room with that number , but then he

said " the rooms , they don't have

numbers on them , at all . "

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" 201 " " go on , were really close "

stalen cheered Dan on , " 202 ,

204 , 205 ,206 " " stalen smiled

" here we are " he looked inside

the room but it was plain empty

like all others , dissapointment

hit him " oh no , we must have

been doing this all wrong , look !

The room is literally same thing "

" oops , I think I missed one

number , I missed 203 . So it's

the next one " stalen breathed

a sigh of relief and walked to

the next room , he took a deep

breath and opened the door .

60

The door opened wide open , but all

he saw was a single mirror " still ,

better than nothing " he thought ,

he entered the room , but when

Dan tried the follow , he was thrown

back outside and the door slammed

shut , stalen breath caught , but he

tried to ignore what just happened ,

taking a deep breath , and walked

towards the mirror , when he looked

, he saw himself , just normal .

61

stalen let out a breath he didn't

know he was holding , and looked

again , more confident this time ,

but slowly , his image changed ,

the mirror changed into a picture ,

there were two sides , both divided

in the middle , and tgere were two

stalens , wait , no , on one side was

stalen , and on the other was ... was

mike ? As stalen looked closely at

his side , he saw acrows slowly

emerging behind him , he turned

his head sharply behind him , but

there was no one , he looked

towards the mirror again and focused

on the crowd , they were all frowning ,

and when he looked at kike side , he

also saw a crowd , but this time ,

they were smiling .

62

" hello there , stalen " stalen heard the

mirror said , he almost fell from shock ,

as he looked closely at the mirror he

saw that mike was speaking , and as

he spoke , so did his crowd , "you , the

hero , the loved one right . " stalen said

bitterly , his crowd spoke the same thing ,

bitterly as well , suddenly , stalen realized

what he has to do , it was an idea , It may

Not work , but just as well , it may

work .

63

Stalen forced himself to close his eyes ,

he remembered all the good tiens he

had with Dan , how he laughed , smiled ,

grinned , joked , even when he cried , he

was still letting out emotion, he was starting

to become a new person , he should let his

crowd know that . " the crowd copy our

expressions when we speak , don't they ?

" stalen took a deep breath and peed his

eyes , glad to see he was smiling , " oh ,

sorry about that , must have been the devil ,

hello Mike , how do you do ? " he asked

sweetly , he looked at his crowd nothing

happened , stalen got a little dissapointed

but forced himself to keep smiling " how

dare you act sweet and nice to me after

being rude at first , stop acting alright !"

Mike said angry , then realized what he

did , his big mistake , he slapped his

forehead and groaned , he opened his

eyes , still the crowds were the

Same .

64

that made mike grin , "thank god " he

murmered , stalen , started to get

more dissapoint ed ," oh well , it

was a good idea ,don't let yourself

lose that smile , who knows . He

forced a bigger smile and suddenly ,

The mirror shone very brightly and

after stalens eyes adapted to the

brightness , he saw the crowds

switching places , stalen couldn't

believe it , now he had the smile

crowd on his side , " could i do

that in real life ? " he thought ,

but the joy of what happened

made him postive , if I can do

this here , I'm sure to do it there ,

he had closed his eyes and didn't

dare hear what mike was saying ,

he needn't have worried , his anger

at losing his crowd just made him

more bitter , . " I guess I was right "

stalen thought " it's all about

how they see it " .

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