Reflections

"Slippery when wet." The sign in his rearview mirror warned. He barely noticed. He was late for class as usual. October fog set in with a side of drizzle and traffic was moving at a snail's pace. Aiden moaned. At this rate he'd miss his first course altogether. Not that professor Henkel was any more fun to listen to than the slow hum drum of the morning traffic, but he already had quite a few tardy slips under his belt. He really would like to graduate in the spring.

He possessed a love-hate relationship with his lifelong status as, "outsider." As a youngster, Aiden wanted to be part of the "in-crowd." The older he got, the more he learned about people, their sometimes hateful ways, their diminished definition of trust, and less and less he wanted to be one of them.

He could recite the DSM-IV by heart, a dedicated psychology major with the memory of any good savant, diagnosing people was a favorite pass time. Oddly, he could not find a diagnosis that fit him, but everyone else belonged to at least one.

He could already see that this day was a waste. Classes had just begun. Surprisingly, he was only fifteen minutes late, and Professor Henkel was on a roll. "Great. Another hour of this and my hair will be as gray as the 'ole professors'." Aiden thought to himself. He found himself dosing off despite himself and nearly jolted out of his seat when the bell rang.
"Slippery when wet." It was barely legible, but it was there on the classroom window in childish print. "Weird." He thought, and shrugged it off without any other concern.

Thank God it was Friday. That meant a whole weekend to himself, himself and Brianna that is. Brianna was his girlfriend since junior year in high school. She was the only person who understood him and the only person he cared to understand.

"How is Mr. Grimm today?" Brianna asked, as she greeted him with a warm smile and a bear hug. Mr. Grimm was her nick name for Aiden because he never smiled. "Oh, much better now that I'm with you," he said as he returned her hug.

"We still on for the lake this weekend?" she asked. "You know it." He replied in his usual monotone. His eyes shifted from hers. Something caught his attention in the mirror to the left of them.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Her brown eyes followed his gaze to the mirror.

"Did you do that?" he asked her?
"Do what?"
"That in the mirror?"
"What!"
There, in the same childish print as the classroom window, written in red, were the words, "slippery when wet."

"What's wrong with the mirror honey?"
"Don't tell me you don't see that!" Aiden was getting Angry.
"Calm down honey, you're scaring me. What is it?
"Bri, stop playing games."

Brianna began to bawl. Aiden found it annoying at the moment. "Women...." He muttered under his breath. Brianna wisely chose to keep her mouth shut but her tears continued to pour like a spring rain upon the crimson flower her face had become.

Aiden jolted up the stairs like a madman. "The mirrors" he kept yelling. "Aiden, what's going on with you? Are you on drugs?" Brianna choked.

"No, I'm not on drugs, bitch. Tell me you're the one behind this."
"I don't even know what you're ranting and raving about but if you call me 'bitch' one more time..."

"You know what's wrong with you? You have a borderline personality. You have to pull freaky shit to get attention!" He exclaimed

"I don't have to sit here and listen to this. I'm leaving. Call me when you grow up." And she left him there alone.

"What if it wasn't her? He thought. " What if she really couldn't see those words. Am I going crazy?"

"Nonsense!" The bitch was playing with his mind. Too bad. He thought he really knew her. She was indeed a person though. "People." He thought. Can't trust 'em"

He settled in for a lonely evening of a couple hours of re-runs, before he decided to turn in for the night. Sleep came easily.

He dreamt of a traveling carnival, one which he belonged to. Ironically it felt good. It felt like he was a part of something. The carnies were part of an untouched society. The carnival life was the only life they ever knew. The smiles and tears of the clowns felt genuine, the bravery of the lion tamers, was humbling. Despite the theatric fa�ade which many of the performers wore on stage, they were very innocent people. People unlike any others Aiden had encountered. He was proud to be a mere cage cleaner for this carnival.

Aiden woke up refreshed"happy. He was never happy. He remembered his dream as well, something he nearly ever did.

"What a strange dream." He thought. "What could it, if anything, have meant?" He had never enjoyed carnivals as a child. They scared him. He had not been to one since his parents forced him to go when he was eight. In the back of his mind, a voice cried, "Omen!"

He excused the voice. Aiden no more believed in omens than the tooth fairy. Coincidences which seemed inexplicable could all be explained by some form of science or another. If not at present, then it would only be a matter of time.


He took the local paper, and enjoyed reading it from time to time; especially the opinion articles. This morning he was scoping the paper for anything worthwhile, alongside a bowl of "Fruitios." "Bah." He muttered. And was about to toss the paper aside, when something caught his attention.

"Ding-Ling's Traveling Carnival:: starting tomorrow at eight o'clock PM." He thought it an odd coincidence nothing more, and just to prove it to himself, he decided he'd go check it out. He thought about Bri, sweet Bri, he'd ruined their perfect weekend get away at the lake. Perhaps this tacky carnival could be an inkling of a substitute.

His hands shook as he dialed the numbers. One ring. Two rings. "Hello?"
"Bri. .look I'm really sorry about yesterday.."
"I thought you'd never call", she interrupted, "are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine. Just needed some sleep I think. Anyway there's this carnival tomorrow night, and I know it's not as good as the lake, but...."
"Let me get this straight you want to go to a carnival?"
"Sure why not?"
"Okay... I'd love to go. Pick me up at eight."

Brianna looked even more beautiful than usual. Her long black hair nearly touched the waist of her white shorts. Her bright purple summer sweater complimented her facial features. He wished he could express his admiration for her. Instead, he beeped the horn twice.

She seemed to understand. "So we're off to a carnival eh?" she asked with an enthusiasm that was both childlike and charming. "Yup." He answered, in his usual monotone.

The carnival was nearly a twenty minute drive away. They were blaring their favorite band "Neptune Height." All of a sudden, Aiden slammed on breaks. "Oh Shit!"

"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked. Startled.
"You're telling me you didn't see her?"
"See who?"
"The little girl on the trike. She was in the middle of the freakin' road. I almost hit her!"
"I must have been dosing or something." Brianna admitted.
Aiden decided to leave it at that and finish the trek to the carnival.

When they got there, Aiden immediately regretted going. It was hot and swamped with people. The carnies were not nearly so lovely as in his dream.

"Oh, I've always loved these!" Brianna exclaimed, as she pointed wildly at a fun house of mirrors. Aiden groaned. He'd always hated them. "Can we go in baby?"she asked. "Well..." he started.

Before he knew it, she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the funhouse. "Bri..please don't leave my side..." he thought he might have heard some emotion in his voice. He turned his head to tell Bri, but saw only a warped version of his reflection. "Hey Bri, where are you?"

His voice echoed. He thought he could even hear something resembling panic. He wondered if he should stay put or try the maze of mirrors to find the exit. He decided on the latter.

He heard a faint noise. "Bri?" No answer. He turned around. It looked like a mirror. How was that possible? The little girl on the trike, the same one he saw on the road earlier, was peddling through. The mirror seemed to turn to water, and splash.

The words were coming from somewhere else. "Slippery when wet!"Escaped Aiden's lips, but,the words were not his own.


Her trike started to slide out of control. "Poor baby," Aiden thought, as he rushed to her aide. She fell off the trike without a sound. The mirror caught his eye. He was kneeling on the ground, but there was no little girl. He looked away from the mirror, the child was dying.

Aiden didn't realize he was screaming --crying even. Confusion overwhelmed his mind and then his entire body. He thought he heard Bri's voice in the background before everything turned white.

"Bri?" he asked. "Mr. Henkel, you know this isn't your room. This is Ms. Donovon's room. He didn't move. He stared into Ms. Donovon's closet mirror. His hair was gray and balding, and his face was full of wrinkles. That couldn't be his reflection could it? "Mr. Henkel." The voice belonging to the lady in white was growing impatient. "We all know you are fond of the mirror. But this isn't your room."

He made a sidelong glance at Ms. Donovon. She was old too. He wondered if she knew it or not. His guess was she didn't as she was sitting on her bed clutching a doll. Come along now, Mr. Henkel. He took the nurse's hand and was lead out of the room. In the hallway the janitor was cleaning the floor. He posted a yellow sign which warned, slippery when wet.