Broken Reflection

A man confronts his own self.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder or O.C.D is defined by the, "Merriam-Webster," dictionary as an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent obsessions or compulsions or both that cause significant distress, are time consuming, or interfere with normal daily functioning.

Hunter always had his own unique routines that he had to do and he was diagnosed as having O.C.D at a young age. Working with a therapist he was able to rid himself of the routines that had a larger affect in his day to day life. The more minor routines stuck around and he was able to implement them easily enough into his everyday life and unless you were to dwell upon his habits, they are not something most people would notice. 

Hunter reaches from his bed towards the alarm telling him it is 7:00 am and time to get up. His hand finds the off button and he clicks it one, two, three times before rising from bed. He takes a couple steps towards the light switch and turns the light on, off, on before opening, closing, and opening the bedroom door and stepping out to go to the bathroom.

He opens, closes, opens the bathroom door and steps in and turns the light on, off, on before closing, opening, and closing the door. He walks over to the toilet to relieve himself and once finished he flushes one, two, three times before moving towards the shower. He turns on the shower to let it run for a minute before stepping into the lukewarm water. A few minutes later he turns the water off and steps out a cleaner man. He dries himself off and grabs his neatly folded clothes from the shelf he has set up by the sink, with an outfit for each day.

Dressed he grabs his toothbrush from the sink with his right hand and with his left squeezes a small dab of toothpaste onto it before brushing and rinsing. He grabs his comb with his right hand and fixes his hair until it looks satisfying enough for him, he puts the comb down and glimpses his reflection. Was he holding the comb in his left hand? Not dwelling on the thought he turns the lights off, on, off before opening, closing and opening the door and stepping into the hall turning around and closing, opening, closing the door and going to the kitchen to eat breakfast.

He eats a small breakfast before putting on his shoes left then right and then he opens, closes and opens the front door steps out, turns around and closes, opens, closes it. He puts his key in and locks, unlocks, locks it and heads to work.

An hour before he was scheduled to go home his boss asks him to stay for a couple hours to help with a project, Hunter agrees but needs to take a few minutes to do a breathing exercise to dispel the anxiety that he feels due to the break from his norm. By the time he leaves work it is 8:00 pm.

Standing at his front door he inserts the key into it and unlocks, locks and unlocks the door then he opens, closes opens it steps in, turns around and closes, opens, closes it, then lock, unlock, lock it. He takes his shoes off leaving them in front of the door with the toes facing the door.

On a typical night it would be 5:30 pm and Hunter would go into the kitchen and make himself dinner and eat and relax for a few hours before going to bed. Tonight it was already 8:30 pm and he was exhausted. He promised himself he would eat a big breakfast to make up for the lack of dinner and he walks to his room.

Standing outside his door he berates himself for leaving the light on. He goes in, turns around and closes, opens, closes the door before turning the light off, on, off, then he plops down into bed and falls asleep within minutes, still in his work clothes.

It's still dark outside when Hunter's alarm starts blaring. He awakens and reaches out to click the off button, he hits it one, two, three times and gets up. He stretches and realizes he had gone to bed without changing, he then notices the time is only 3:00 am and feels an anxiety attack coming. He closes his eyes and breathes in and out slowly. He opens his eyes once the feeling passes and goes to his light and turns it on, off, on before opening, closing, opening his door and going to the bathroom. He opens, closes, opens the bathroom and turns the light on, off... Upon shutting the light off the mirror still remains illuminated as if the light was never shut off... on.

He stares bemusedly into the mirror wondering if he just caught some kind of optical illusion or maybe he is still half asleep. He stops staring into the mirror and takes a couple steps to the toilet and pees, once done he flushes one, two, three times and begins to walk back to bed. He glimpses the mirror on his way out and it's dark. The light in the bathroom still shines brightly but the mirror reflects a dark room. Hunter tells himself he's having a bout of sleepwalking. He reaches for the light switch and turns it off... The mirror lights up.

Hunter stares wide eyed into the mirror. The bathroom is dark but he sees it still being lit in the reflection. His reflection stares back, a wide smile on it face. Without thinking Hunter switches the light back on, but the reflection remains unchanged, not even copying Hunters movements. Hunter stares at his still reflection that stares back at him motionless and with that wide smile.

Scared Hunter starts inching towards the door not daring to take his gaze away from the mirror, he gasps when his reflection lifts its arm and closes the door, the door in Hunters world slams shut. He tries in vain to open it but the knob won't budge, it was as someone was holding it on the other side. Hunter looks into the mirror again and his reflection is still watching with the same grin and it's finger is on the light switch, the light goes out and the bathroom is pitch black.

Hunter frantically tries turning the lights on, off, on off, on... nothing. The light remains off, again he tries to open the door but it still won't budge. He starts panicking as his anxiety kicks in ten-fold and he falls onto the ground. His breath is loud, his chest tightens and he begins hyperventilating. Outside the bathroom doors begin opening, closing, opening... Lights flicker on, off, on, off... Hunter closes his eyes tight and tries to regulate his breathing to prevent himself from passing out. Minutes pass before the light comes back on and the door opens.

Hunter stands up and runs to his bedroom, he goes in and slams the door behind him before sitting in front of it to prevent anything from coming in. Down the hall he hears glass shatter followed by the bathroom door slamming shut. He hears footsteps approaching the door and the light in the bedroom goes out...

Hunter reaches from his bed towards the alarm telling him it is 7:00 am and time to get up. His hand finds the off button and he clicks it before rising from bed. He takes a couple steps towards the light switch and turns the light on opening the bedroom door and stepping out to go to the bathroom.

He opens the bathroom door and steps in and turns the light on before closing the door. He walks over to the toilet to relieve himself and once finished he flushes before moving to the shower. He turns on the shower to let it run for a minute before stepping into the lukewarm water. A few minutes later he turns the water off and steps out a cleaner man. He dries himself off and puts on some clothes not too dirty from the hamper.

Dressed he grabs his toothbrush from the sink with his left hand and with his right squeezes a little too much toothpaste onto it before brushing and rinsing. He grabs his comb with his left hand and run it through his hair real quick before he puts the comb down and glimpses his reflection. He smiles as his reflection silently pleads for help.

Reviews

[Nicole Roush]

I love the imagery; i felt almost uncomfortable with the repetitiveness of his actions. Which is great because O.C.D. is a disorder that has to release obsessive thoughts with compulsive actions. I hate reading long writings on this site. But I wanted to keep reading. Well done.