The sirens started to blare, and the anticipation everyone had felt all day shifted into palpable excitement. The unassuming beeping informed the people of Hatchet River to meet in the town square for an important meeting. This would be the first assembly in years, and the citizens of the town have yearned for this day. I looked out the window of my cobbler shop and saw the residents quicken their pace towards town square.

The customers inside the shop dropped everything in excitement, and started toward the door. I stopped two of the men as they stepped one foot out of the rotted wooden frame, and pulled them back inside. I explained that trying on shoes comes with a cost, even if you were not planning to purchase. The two men quickly coughed up the dough in fear of missing this meeting, and ran toward the town square. I looked down at the cash and smirked. I thought I better close up shop and hurry before I miss this “important announcement”.
After locking the door, I ran through the streets of the town, my hoary shoes nearly slipping off of my heels. There was no one to be seen; some of the shopkeepers had even forgot to secure their wares in their hassle to get to the square. Any other day I may have helped myself to their belongings, but not today. I was late. The sun had nearly set, and I was worried that I would be the last to arrive. I quickened my pace until my feet screamed in pain every time they slammed into the pavement. In the distance, I could hear the murmur of the crowd gathering in the square. The closer I came, they louder the voices became and as I arrived, I realized that the entire town was waiting there.
          The crowd was massive and I had to step on the tips of my toes just to see the stage, which also gave a welcome respite to the agonizing pain my feet were in. On the stage, there stood a towering curtain hiding what we were all waiting to see. I tried to push my way through the wall of people, but no one would let me pass. This was shaping up to be the biggest meeting in the town’s history, and I was devastated that I was not standing in the front row. It seemed as though the whole town had felt the same.
I couldn’t help but wonder if the announcement had anything to do with the stranger who arrived in town just a few days ago. This man was said to be the wealthiest around, and his appearance was just as charming as his attitude. His power and presence embodied everything that everyone in the town wanted to be. He was not like any one of us, not like anyone we had seen before. He wore a well-tailored suit filled out by his impressive frame, and his hair shined as bright as his teeth. Immediately, the town’s response to this stranger and device was immediate; everyone was fascinated by him. He had swept into town wooing us with his mystic words and charismatic charm. In just two days, he became almost god like, and couldn’t help but worship him. On top of that, he brought with him something that he promised would change all of us. Change, just what this town needed most. As I stood in the crowd, shifting and straining to see something, anything. Suddenly the horde erupted in cheers as the man appeared on stage.
          Today, the day he promised that all would be revealed. Of course the whole town would be there and I had arrived late. As he stood near the curtain, a wave of silence carried across the whole crowd. To me, he appeared like an ant crawling on a blade of grass. I could not even hear his perfect voice as he spoke to the crowd. Even though I could not make out his face, I could feel the weight of his smile. I held my breath so that I have a better chance in hearing, only being able to make out the final words of his speech before he reached for the curtain.
“Behold! The Future!”
He removed the curtain with one embellishment of his arms and the crowd gasped in anticipation. As the last of the fabric fell to ground, the town went silent. I squinted my eyes, was it pane of glass? No, it was a mirror. Though rather large in size, it seemed to have no other peculiar qualities. As the last crack of sun disappeared behind the horizon, I scratched my head wondering how a plain old mirror had to do with anything spectacular. My wonderment was pierced by the first scream. And then another. One by one, it rippled through the square until the whole crowd had erupted into terror.
       I tried to shield myself from the swarm of people stampeding past me, but was soon knocked to the ground and turned into a doormat. I could not get up. I fought out of my way into the flow and stood up as the last of the crowd disappeared. My arms were bruised and my legs repeatedly stepped on. What on earth could have caused this?
          I rubbed my eyes to see the skies quickly fading from beautiful shades of rose and violet, to black. I struggled to even walk on my feet, feeling thankful that at the very least I wasn’t bleeding on my new suit. I looked to the mirror, now standing alone on the stage. Lord knows that I should have turned away right then and there, just gone home and forgot about it, but his sweet voice kept ringing in my ears. I had to know.
           One careful step at a time, I dragged my body towards the stage. After all I had been through that evening; I just had to see it. The closer I came, the more I noticed its detail; a large brass frame surrounded it and intricate wiring was coming out of all corners. This was no plain old mirror. I caught my reflection and even at that distance I could tell that there was something off about it. I could not remove my eyes from my reflection and as I slowly drew closer, I saw what had made all of those people run.
         The reflection was mine, but not as I knew myself. My skin was pale and swollen. Around my neck, I wore dark bruise like a necklace, but as I put my hands up to feel, I know my neck was not trampled. I peeked into my eyes and they stared back at me. I know they had not been injured in the rushing crowd, but there was something deeply wrong with them. I struggled to find my breath. It felt as though I needed to cough, but it would not surface from my throat. The reflection looks terrified, but within its eyes was a prayer of desperation.
I peeled my eyes away from the distorted image, ready to return back to the shop when I heard the footsteps of the so called god. I turned towards him; seeking an explanation. He had begun to pick up the curtain he pulled from the mirror when I noticed his reflection. Instead of a suit, tailored to his strong frame, he was wearing rags, sagging around his crippled body. His face was damaged with deformities and scars. His muscles were replaced with bones, and his erotic face turned into a mawkish skin pile of anger. I looked away from the mirror and back to the man. There was my god. Untouched and pleased as could be.
“Sir, how can this be the future?” I asked frantically.
As the man was folding the curtain he explained, “The future is determined by the collective inner self. This mirror, though it does not display your physical traits, shows the truth about something much deeper. The deeper our depravity, the darker our future becomes.”
With that, the last of the sun’s light disappeared; leaving me in a shroud of darkness. Alone. The man and his mirror had disappeared, but Hatchet River would never the same again.
Behold the future.