Frankie Gozzomer sprinted down the Walmart aisle.
"Stop, thief!"
He chuckled at the puffing security guard jogging after him. He'd been working on his chuckle; he was rather proud of it. Smug without too much throat, and just a touch of ominous.
Frank was being careful not to run too far ahead, which was tricky. This security guard was seriously out of shape. That, and . . . he didn't seem to be trying.
Frankie's eyes widened for an instant. Then he smiled.
Directly ahead, another blue-shirted guard stepped into the aisle. This one wasn't as portly as the other: it was a muscular woman with stiff features and a serious scowl. She'd better be careful. If she kept that look on her face it might stick that way.
Frank twisted on his heels, sliding a few feet on the slick floor. The woman's fingers actually scrambled to clutch his shirt. But too slow . . . he sprinted sideways, down a frozen goods aisle. Ice-cream cartons and the like. A shelf full of frozen peas. He ran full throttle, both guards colliding and now running behind him down the aisle.
They were gaining, and he was running straight for a reflective glass door. Five feet. He could see the logo on the Moose Tracks behind the door. Four feet, three feet, two feet . . . he leapt.
Frankie's body slammed into the door, and he barely heard the startled exclamations of the security guards before all sound muted. Like plunging underwater. And the world sort of . . . well . . . frosted over, like looking through a steamed up window.
He came out the other side.
It wasn't, strictly speaking, the other side. But sure felt like it. Felt like he'd run straight forward through a puff of steam, and had come out of the glass he'd fixed in his mind: the door in front of the frozen peas he'd seen earlier.
The guards gasped and stared at the door for a good five seconds. After Frank stumbled out, he stopped to catch his breath and lean against the door. He fixed his cheekiest smile on his face. At least he hoped it was cheeky; he hadn't had much time to practice that one.
"Hey!"
The male guard must've caught sight of Frankie's grinning reflection, because he whirled and pointed a trembling finger in Frank's direction. Frank waved, then held up the carton of cheapo batteries he'd nicked earlier.
"Stop! . . . please."
That made him laugh, and then he took off again. The guards jogged hesitantly after.
He leapt through glass cases and came out of countertops, leapt through TV screens and came out of household mirrors, ran into the bathroom and came out of the tile floor, right behind the male guard. Apparently the chick was shy. Finally he grew bored and set the batteries down on a toy shelf as he jogged by. Then he headed back for the mirror section in the household goods. He'd discovered around age thirteen that using a solid reflection allowed him to travel further distances than a simple opaque reflection, like a window. Jumping through this mirror, he should come out a good distance away, in the full length mirror he had set up in the back of his minivan out in the parking lot.
He leapt. But didn't enter any minivan.
He stumbled to a halt in utter blackness, gasping. A dim, pale light flickered on above his head. His vision spun, and remained clouded; somehow, he wasn't able to quite shake free the frost that covered his eyes whenever he jumped. He tried blinking rapidly, hoping that would help, and looked back the way he'd come. A spike of worry grabbed him.
The entire wall was a mirror: a black mirror, still dully reflective but not enough to see himself in. Tentatively, Frankie placed a hand against it. Cold. Colder than it should've been. Like it was draining the heat from his skin.
Frankie shivered and pulled back, then took a running start and jumped at the mirror. He smacked his head. He turned back to the room, which was all unreflective cloth except for the mirror. Then the door opened.
The Truth
I might or might not continue this as a mini-series. It comes from an adventure my aunt had at Walmart today: she reached a door at the same time as someone else on the other side, then tried opening it for them, but realized it was actually the reflection of a person behind her. That's where this comes from.
Would you like to see this continued as a short, three or four episode series? Let me know in the comments!
Have a good night!
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