Identical

The room is white. There are no windows or doors. I look up and find myself staring at a reflection. There is one item in the room; a full-length mirror built into one of the high-ceilinged walls. The girl in the mirror has long brown hair, and dark eyes. They are sad, flitting around to study each and every detail of myself. I know better than to believe that the girl, staring at me from the opposite side of the mirror, is me.

“Caden,” my reflection whispers. As she says it, I notice a small defect on her lower right canine tooth. It would be invisible to anyone other than me. I observe it, because that is the only indication of which she and I are different.

I don’t respond to the girl. Instead, I ponder why she’s returned. “We do not have long,” she says; quiet, and quite still. “But you must know, there are liars among you.” The words she utters barely register in my mind.

“Are you coming back?” I ignore the tension that ages her flawless face. She is worried, I can see that.

She blinks. But I don’t. In that moment, I am reminded of the fact that I am speaking to my own reflection. I am imagining the way the girl in the mirror’s left eye twitches the same way that Caroline’s did, when she was nervous. Caroline is gone.

I shake my head at the reflection. Her eyes grow wide. “Caden, wait, you don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into!” She cries, her arms reaching out towards me.

If I wasn’t hyperaware of the fact that the girl in the mirror was only my imagination, I would have been hopeful, maybe, this was some form of Caroline. I wish I would have held onto some semblance of optimism that any part of Caroline could sense my remorse and regret for all the things I said, and all the things I left unsaid.

Guilty, I can’t look into the mirror any longer, unsure of how to feel. I glance down at a plain white nightgown that had never belonged to me, and bare feet with toes unpainted. This is definitely a dream, I think.

A noise startles me from my thoughts. When I glance upwards, at the mirror, all of the glass has shattered.

* * *

When I wake up, I have a god-awful migraine. I stair at the high-sloped ceilings, and they seem familiar somehow. I lie in this most comfortable queen-sized bed, with heavy duvets and a sea of pillows. Literally, I could probably accidentally suffocate myself within the mass of fabric.

Across my massive room, there is a mahogany wardrobe fit for a C.S. Lewis novel, one you could get lost inside of forever. That is, you could get lost in the wardrobe only if there weren’t a multitude of new outfits selected specifically for me. There is a large window, complete with a window-seat, so large that doors have been placed in front of it, in order to block unwanted moonlight from shining in. There’s an adjoining bathroom and walk-in closet. The walk-in closet takes a walk-in part to a new extreme. Myself, and everyone I’ve ever encountered before, could migrate to this closet for the winter, to seek warmth from the multitude of expensive, dressy clothing and fur that fills the closet racks.

I’m quite grateful for all the things that these new surroundings have blessed me with. But I would trade every penny of worth for everything I’d ever owned before, if it would allow me a mere moment to spend with my sister, Caroline. I would embrace her, and tell her how sorry I am. I would tell her, that for the rest of my life on this very Earth, I would regret all the times I’d ever made her sad or disappointed. I’d cry on her shoulder. Right before she would leave again, Caroline and I would laugh, because I finally put that brat Kelsey Ackerman in her place. I would make her smile one last time, because if that is the only memory I will ever have of her again, I could live with myself.

I hid under the covers and cried, trying to keep my sobs as quiet as possible, although effort was most likely in vain.

About 30 minutes later, I brushed my teeth and hair in the large, expensive-appearing bathroom, and headed towards the downstairs kitchen for breakfast. The hallways leading from my bedroom were slim. My room was found at the end of the hallway, and no other rooms could be found until the hallway led to the foyer, which acted as a central unit for the upstairs-portion of the house. From the foyer, there were multiple other hallways that led to other places, I imagined.

I hadn’t done much exploring of the mansion, yet, but I knew that there were a lot of unfrequented rooms and places to see. Once I reached the upstairs foyer, I bypassed lounge-chairs and some other meaningless furniture, and continued down the grand stairway which led into the downstairs foyer. Back in Denver, we didn’t even have a foyer, so the logic of having two escapes me.

The mansion-house had high ceilings with marvelous chandeliers all over the place. My parents were well-off, by some definitions; however, the amount of wealth found in a fourth of this mansion could easily pay for everything I could ever want. I continued through the maze of money - as I referred to the house when no one was around - and eventually stumbled upon the kitchen.

The kitchen was no exception from the fact that the house was supremely-expensive. There were brand-new appearing stainless steel devices and granite countertops all throughout a kitchen the size of a typical master bedroom. Through an adjoining door was the formal dining room. There was a chandelier and the table was already set as if the president was planning on joining us for breakfast. Sitting at the table, instead, though, were two people. They were, in my opinion, strangers with titles. However, it was slightly more comfortable, due to the fact that we were all sporting pajamas.

“Good morning, granddaughter Caden!” My grandfather sat at the head of the dining table. “It is a lovely morning,” I responded quickly. Grandfather Julius had light, almost-white-colored hair, paired with stunning blue eyes. Even though he lacked a beard, he reminded me of Professor Dumbledore, from the Harry Potter series. Grandfather was very kind and welcoming, although he did not feel a need to explain his, sometimes, odd actions.

I pulled out a heavy mahogany chair from the table, next to Grandfather, and sat down. Caleb, a distant cousin of mine, was seated in the place across from me. “Did you have sweet dreams, Caden?” Grandfather Julius asked, turning his body to face me.

I thought for a moment, trying to remember what it was that I had dreamt of the night before. “You know, grandfather, I must have. I can’t recall what they must’ve been about, however. How are you and Caleb this morning? I hope I didn’t delay breakfast.”

Grandfather smiled as I mentioned being unable to remember my dreams. “Oh, forgetfulness happens to the best of us, my dear. I am splendid today; I feel very well. How are you feeling, son?” He directed the conversation to include Caleb.

“I’m great, thank you. Oh, and of course you didn’t delay the meal, Caden,” Caleb smiled warmly. Caleb was quite athletic, from what I understood, and he didn’t lack the typical athlete’s physique. He had light blond hair, and green, suspicious eyes. I was grateful for the fact that he didn’t intrude on my situations, such as why I had even moved in with them in the first place.

Right as an awkward silence began to settle on the three of us, Mary Anne, one of the maids carried in a large tray with three plates. She set the food before us, and my stomach rumbled silently at the sight. “Thank you, dear Mary Anne.

How are you this morning?” Grandfather spoke kindly to her.

Mary Anne responded the smile and replied brightly. “I’m absolutely fantastic! My great-niece just learned her first word, besides ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’, yesterday. She learned to say ‘please.’ My sister is quite proud of her granddaughter’s excellent manners,” Mary Anne beamed proudly.

Grandfather and her spoke nonchalantly for a few minutes, while Caleb and I began to eat. On the plates before us were pancakes, eggs, and toast. Breakfast continued for awhile, and most of the time was consumed by comfortable silence as we all ate.

Towards the end of the meal, Grandfather spoke up. “Do you have any plans for today, Caden?”

“Not really anything,” I responded. “I’d like to explore Scarborough sometime, though.” Grandfather grinned and turned his head to face Caleb.

“Caleb, if you do not have any plans, would you show Caden the best that our little town has to offer her,” Grandfather asked him politely. Caleb had his mouth full of food, but he nodded politely and offered me a small smile.

After we finished breakfast, I headed up to my bedroom to change out of my “Sink-or-Swim”, Denver Sharks, tee shirt and loose black shorts. I was placing my dirty clothes into the clothesbasket and pulling on a robe as I heard a knock at the door.

“Um, yes,” I called to the visitor as I tied the robe. I walked quickly to the door, and opened it a fraction, to show my face. Caleb stood at the door, in regular clothes, leaning against the hallway. His brown shoes matched the hardwood floors. “Sorry, I was getting changed,” I explained.

“That’s alright. I just stopped by to let you know that we can leave whenever you would like.” He said, placing his hands in the pockets of his dark-colored jeans.

“You may hate me, but do you think we can stop by the mall?” I asked, shyly. Instead of bothering to ship all of my clothes and shoes, (I’d accumulated quite a lot, over the years, because I hit my growth-spurt around thirteen, and remained the same sizes for almost three years) my parents had given me a few hundred dollars to restock my wardrobe. They would continue to send money if I couldn’t locate a steady job, but this small fortune was purely to replace the belongings I couldn’t live without.

“Uh, sure,” Caleb answered sweetly. “Scarborough is pretty small, so it’s a little ways away, if you don’t mind. The high school’s on the way to the mall, so I’ll show you where it is when we go.” I’ll meet you downstairs in the rec. room.” He said, and began walking away.

I shut the door, quickly and rushed to get changed. Of the few clothing I brought on the plane with me, I changed into sky-blue skinny jeans and a floral-designed bandeau-style top. I was really pleased with the outfit. I pulled on a pair of silver LOFT sandals to accent my turquoise-painted toes. My makeup was simple, just mascara and eyeliner, and I pulled my hair back with clips, so that it flowed down my shoulders, nearly reaching my waist. I assessed myself in the mirror: bright green eyes, long brown hair, and willowy but full figure.

About 25 minutes after Caleb visited my room, I met him down in the rec. room where he was playing video games on the Xbox. “Ready to go, we are.” He commented as we walked into the 10-car-sized garage. He unlocked the doors to a black Porsche, and we climbed inside the cozy interior. Even in Maine, August temperatures made the typically-chilly state as hot as Florida.

“You’re into Star Wars?” I asked, reflecting on the statement he made as we walked into the garage. He opened garage door and began driving the car, in reverse, to pull out. Caleb’s mind must have been elsewhere, because then he said, “What did you say?”

I laughed and replied, “Do you like Star Wars?” Back in Denver, my dad and I were avid Star Wars, Star Trek, Star Anything fans.

Caleb’s eyes widened and he gave me a look as if I’d just casually commented about the price of tea in China. “You recognized that?” He said, as we drove down the winding road to the gates of the property. I looked around at the colorful plants that decorated the land and wondered about how much money they must pay the landscaper.

“Well, I find your lack of faith disturbing.” I quoted one of the Star Wars characters and Caleb laughed very loudly.

We reached the gates, and Caleb was saluted by the doorman, Jenkins. Caleb returned the salute, and we drove into town.

“I think we’ll be fast friends.” Caleb commented. I smiled, because other than Caroline, I’d never had a true friend before. Maybe I’d enjoy it here.