magisternihil's 100-word story for April 17, 2025

magisternihil wrote the following micro-story on Hectalex on April 17, 2025. Each story on Hectalex is inspired by a daily visual prompt and must be exactly 100 words.

I'm never alone. He's there, taunting me from the mirror, his smirk showing all the contempt he feels. The faces he makes at me shouldn't be legal. I see him in the shop windows, mocking my walk, his imitation of me a cruel parody, a loping, lurching gait that doesn't exist in nature. Get away, they told me. Go where he can't find you. Go far into nature where no one exists and you will be at peace. But a man gets thirsty. I can hear his laughter, echoing across the ripples as I surrender below the surface to escape.

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