Things in Mirrors

Cold.

Extend tension wire. Run fast, wind blowing. Second tension wire. Third. Spokes complete. Move around, first loop, second, third.

So tired.

Sun coming up. Around again. Hurry.

So tired. So heavy. Breathe. Touch the glass. It has been a good home. For years, it sat quietly. I have seen many come and go, but I remain.

Then last month, it moved. For so long, everything stayed the same. Didn’t have to work much.

Could cover entire glass with Thread. We ate well, we did.

Sun coming up. Not done yet. Run. Loop, extend Thread. Finished. Near the edge. We always hide them near the edge. Must hurry. Done. My last sunrise.

They will be safe here.

“Honey, have you seen my keys?”

“On the hook by the door where they belong.”

“Thank you, dear. See you after work.”

“How did the repairs go, are you sure you will be able to get to work in your car? It has sat for almost three years.”

“He said call him in three hundred miles, so I have a way to go yet. See ya.”

“I see you washed it.”

“No sense in having it look like hell on my first day.”

“What happened to the mirror?”

“Oh, that? They have been living there for years. Haven’t had the heart to throw them out.”

“What about the web?”

“I got it. Bye, babe.”

Extend tension wire. Second, third. Move around. Run, fast. Wind strong. Touch the glass…

Thaddeus Howze is a popular and recently awarded Top Writer, 2016 recipient on the Q&A site Quora.com. He is also a moderator and contributor to theScience Fiction and Fantasy Stack Exchange with over fourteen hundred articles in a four year period.

His speculative fiction has appeared online at Medium, Scifiideas.com, and theAu Courant Press Journal. He has appeared in twelve different anthologies in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. A list of his published work appears on his website, Hub City Blues.