“Man, this coffee is good,” Evan told Piper.

“You said it!” Piper agreed.

Evan’s cell phone started buzzing like a bee.

“Hold on,” Evan said. “I have to take this.”

“Hello?” Evan asked.

Evan stood up, plugging his ear, which hadn’t had the phone against it. Unrecognizable murmuring came from within the phone firmly held by Evan.

“Ok,” Evan muttered. “Bye.”

“So… what?” Piper asked.

“I inherited my dead parents’ house,” Evan responded.

“Oh…” Piper said as if she didn’t know what to say.

Evan generously said, “I’m going to check out my new house if you want to come with me.”

“Sorry, no,” Piper responded. “I have to go to my hair appointment.”

Evan finally parked his red truck in the driveway of the blue, old, two-story house after an hour’s drive.

Evan thought, “What kind of house doesn’t have a garage?”

As Evan walked up the stairs to the old, worn-down door, he felt a chill travel down his spine. He hesitated before walking in.

The first thing that caught his eye was an old, oval mirror with a red “rEaLIze” painted on it. Evan immediately walked over to the mirror and looked into it to see a pair of blue eyes looking back at him. He walked away to check out the rest of the house. Before he explored every room, his phone started buzzing again. This time, it was Piper.

“Hey, Piper,” Evan said with a smile on his face.

“Uh, I just got done with my hair appointment,” Piper replied.

“Ok,” Evan said. “I was thinking. Maybe we could go somewhere tonight. Maybe somewhere expensive. Like Fork and Knife.”

“Sure! I would love that!” Piper said ecstatically

“At 7?” Evan asked.

“Yeah!” Said Piper

That night at 7, they had both sat down at a 2-person table.

“What would you like to order?” Evan asked.

“I don’t know, maybe a steak,” Piper replied with a smile on her face.

“Ooh, that sounds good,” Evan said. “I might also have to get one too.”

“Oh, here is the food!” Evan said sometime later

“So, what’s something you do in your free time?” Evan asked with a mouthful of food.

“I like to read books that my dad gives me,” Piper replied. “Speaking of that, I’m sorry about your parents. You must be really sad about them.”

“Yeah…” mumbled Evan.

“Anyway,” Evan said, changing the topic. “How are you almost done eating your steak?!”

“I guess I’m a fast eater.” Piper knowingly said. “How about you? How are you doing on your steak?”

“I’m full!” Evan said feeling sick.

Their waiter came walking up.

“How are y’all comin’ along with y’all’s food?” the waiter asked.

“I think we’re done,” Evan replied. “Can we have two checks, please?”

Piper’s eyes went wide, and she powered out of the restaurant.

Evan thought. “What did I do wrong?”

Evan looked at his phone to text Piper, but she had completely ghosted him. Evan drove to his new house and slept on the couch, the mirror sitting across the room.

In the morning, Evan drove to his work at McDonald’s. A few customers served later, and an overweight female customer with dark, almost black hair speed walked into the dimly lit restaurant. She walked straight to Evan.

“What would you like, ma’am?” Asked Evan.

“Give me a Big Mac and a chocolate shake,” demanded the lady.

“Sorry, the ice cream machine isn’t working,” replied Evan.

“I don’t care.” The lady still demanded. “I want a chocolate shake!”

“SORRY, lady, the machine is broken!” Evan said.

“Then go fix it!” yelled the lady.

“JUST ORDER SOMETHING ELSE!” yelled Evan. “YOU’RE ALREADY TOO BIG AS IS! YOU DON’T NEED ANOTHER 10 POUNDS ADDED TO YOUR CURRENT 600!”

“Is there a problem here?” Evan’s boss asked.

“YES! This man is harassing me!” the lady told his boss.

“Sorry, ma’am, we’ll get it dealt with. Give me a moment and I’ll get your order for you,” said the boss.

Evan’s boss walked him to the back room.

“Am I in trouble?” Evan asked in despair.

“No,” Evan’s boss told him, looking directly into his brown eyes. Before Evan could reply, his boss added, “You’re fired.”

Evan was driving his red truck to a place called The Urban Pet to buy a pet to cure his loneliness.

“Hi, I’m here to adopt a dog,” Evan told the employee at the front who was looking down at her phone.

“Any specific type or breed of dog?” replied the employee.

“Any kind will work,” said Evan.

Finally, when the employee looked up, she said, “Actually, sorry, I don’t think my co-workers will allow you to buy a pet.”

“Why not?!” he yelled. “Nothing in my life is going right!”

After that, Evan stormed off back to his truck to drive home and get some sleep.

“At least tomorrow’s a new day,” Evan said as he walked into his house. “I should probably clean before I have the guests over tomorrow. Actually, they can just deal with it.”

When he went to sleep on the couch, he looked over at the mirror propped up against the wall. When he got up to look at it, he saw himself, but different. He saw Piper in the background with a clean house and money on the table. His reflection and Piper looked happy. Evan decided to just go to sleep.

“I must just be tired,” Evan thought.

The morning was bright and beautiful. Evan got up and immediately went to the mirror. However, Evan couldn’t believe his eyes as when he looked in the mirror, he saw a rugged old depressed person who almost looked monstrous. This monster resembled him. He looked into its brown eyes and fell back onto the floor.

“Are you ok?” a voice yelled.

“Piper?” Evan asked, confused.

“You know, something I love about you is your blue eyes!” Piper stated.

Evan thought, “Blue eyes?”

He stood up and looked around. He saw a clean house and money on the table.

“This isn’t my life…” Evan whispered. “I’m inside the mirror.”

At once, the mirror shows Evan a vision of himself in the glass, and it was the night when he took out Piper. This time, he paid for the whole meal instead of splitting it. Another vision came into view. This one showed Evan at his work, and the lady walked in. This time, Evan didn’t yell at her and instead got a manager. Another vision came into view. This one showed Evan getting up from the couch and cleaning the house. Almost instantly, the visions disappeared and showed his reflection with Piper, money, a job, and a clean house. He began tearing up.

“WAIT,” Evan yelled to the mirror. “I DON’T DESERVE THIS! I DIDN’T MAKE THE GOOD CHOICES! I DON’T DESERVE THIS LIFE! BRING ME BACK! I WILL CHANGE AND MAKE THE GOOD CHOICES OVER THE BAD ONES! PLEASE!”

Evan fell back onto the floor, curled up into a ball, and started sobbing.

“Please!” he sobbed. “Please!”

There was a knock on the door, and Evan’s family poured in one by one.

“I don’t deserve this life!” Evan yelled at them.

They immediately walked over and began to comfort him.

When Evan had lost hope that he would return, he forgot how to feel. A strange whirring sound had given him hope. When Evan looked up at the mirror, it became clear that the mirror was now a portal. Evan ran straight into it, and everything went black. When he opened his eyes, he was standing in front of his house. He walked into his blue house and noticed the mirror was gone. His phone started ringing.

“Piper?” he asked, astonished.

“Yeah, uh, it’s me, uh, I just got done with my hair appointment,” said Piper.