Mirror Mirror, On the Wall
Story by Cederwyn Whitefurr on SoFurry
Mirror mirror or the wall, who is -that- reflected back at me?
Mirror Mirror, On the Wall
© Cederwyn Whitefurr
19th February, 2024
All Rights Reserved.
This Week's Writing Challenge: Staring into the mirror, it wasn't a reflection that gazed back.
At least 1000 words, don't worry if you go over.
Tag all prompts with: WritingGroupChallenge.
Add all prompts to a separate folder.
Put the prompt description at the beginning of your story.
My name is Thorne, a whitetail deer living in a world where my people, evolved alongside humanity. The mirror of my bathroom, much like the human world, has always been a curiosity to me. As an anthropomorphic deer, my reflection usually revealed a creature with antlers, fur, and the distinctive, and handsome, if I do say so myself, distinctive features of my species.
Little did I know...
It was a quiet night in the suburbs, far enough from the frenetic, confusing, and blinding, lights of the city. The hum of society around me drifted to my tubular ears like a sweet spring breeze. I let myself into my home, which was small, and austere, but comfortable for me. Closing the door behind me, I dropped the keys to my home on the small table beside the door. My cloven hooves, aching, and my ankles felt like my next step would shatter them like glass – I pulled my jacket off, letting it dangle from my hooflets as I moved slowly toward my bathroom. I needed to unwind, being a deer is hard, okay? Surrounded by the cacophony of lights, sounds, and sheer soul-crushing noise!
How do humans not go insane? Maybe they are – I don't know.
My jacket slips from my fingers, my shirt, pants, and underwear following, a trail of discarded clothing in my wake. My hooflets travel down my body, from throat, chest, belly, and...furred sheath. My pelt ripples and breathes for the first true time in hours, involuntary movements as it fluffs itself out, freed from the constraints of clothing.
Pulling open the shower stall door, I reach inside, turning the faucets, and instantly, relief giving hot water gushes out, until I regulate it to just the right temperature, perfect for both cleansing and relaxing me.
Did I mention being a deer was hard? Hard doesn't do it justice, or even come close to how I feel. Every day, expected to confront my fears, to suffer in silence, amongst the human world, the fluorescent lights burning my eyes, the stink of their vehicles, and the humans themselves – urgh – don't get me started! They positively drown themselves in the most offensive, eye-watering, and disgusting thing they call deodorant. They claim it 'makes them smell nice' – I want to tell them to one such as I, with senses far beyond theirs...
They wouldn't understand anyway...
I chase these morbid thoughts from my mind, as I step into the shower, pulling the door closed behind me. Beneath my cloven hooves, a special non-slip mat cushions them, serving two purposes – one – preventing me from slipping and hurting myself, the other – providing desperately needed comfort. Humans are lucky, they aren't on their naked feet, all day. No, they got nice cushioned shoes that enclose and support them.
Me?
I got hard, keratin-based cloven hooves, with a surprisingly delicate and sensitive frog underneath. I can't even begin to describe the pain of stepping on something someone dropped – whether intentionally or not – to call it pain doesn't do it justice, the words truly don't exist in human – or – Cervidae, my native tongue.
Turning my muzzle up into the water, I let its magical embrace flow over my face, my eyes, and my aching, sore ears. It does what it always has – it washes away not only the scent and sweat, by my pain, my frustration, and my annoyance – leaving me feeling refreshed and calm.
Slowly, my paw reaches out and takes the body wash from the shelf, before squirting it onto my chest. Scents of the forest, of ancestral home fill my mind, a place I crave and long for. Placing it back on the shelf, I start lathering myself from the tip of my ears down to my ankles. It does to me, what I long for, it transports me away from...
here, now... ancient, primal memories surge within me, of running on four legs, of combat with antlers and hooves, of challenges – dominance, the thrill of the rut, claiming the does that are drawn to me of...
My breath catches in my throat, my paws working of their own volition, that moment between ecstasy and madness – that loud, piercing squeal torn from my throat as my body betrays my rational mind...
Fuck my life...
As I stood there, breathless and shaky from the unexpected climax, my eyes drifted down from the ceiling of my bathroom to the glass wall before me. The once-clear surface now bore witness to the aftermath of my release, a testament to the transient pleasure that came with being a buck.
That's the worst thing about being... me...
We bucks lack stamina...
My cloven hooves trembled as I leaned against the shower wall, grappling with the duality of my existence. The water, now colder than before, served as a stark contrast to the heated passion that had momentarily consumed me. It reminded me of the human world I inhabited, where such experiences were both a luxury and a source of guilt and shame.
My breathing quickened as I stood beneath the shower cascading water, each droplet a reminder of the tensions that had built within me. The steam-filled enclosure amplified my sensory experience, the warmth enveloping my fur, and the rhythmic sound of the water masking the erratic beating of my heart. In the moment's post-climax, my mind raced through a whirlwind of emotions. I grappled with the dual nature of my existence, the daily struggle against human societal expectations, and the deeply ingrained yearning for release from such tension.
I sighed, my reflection in the foggy glass mirroring the conflict within. My antlers, once majestic and regal, now a pale shadow of their former magnificence, once again, a condescension to humans, seemed to mock me in their silent witness to my vulnerability. My anticipation heightened as my paw hovered over the shower handle, the decision to relinquish my control and just embrace my vulnerability and weakness hanging in the air like an unspoken challenge before me. As the water dropped its once warm temperature to once even I, with my fur, could not bear, so did my tumultuous emotions within me. It culminated in a crescendo of physical and emotional release that left me kneeling on the shower floor, my salty tears mixing with the ice-cold water, breathless and shaking.
It took longer than I wish to remember, to reach up, and turn off that bitterly cold water, my body shaking and the tears still sliding down my cheeks...
I reached for a towel, wrapping it around myself as I quivered, the air-conditioned air sending a shiver down my spine.
Droplets of water clung to my fur as I moved towards the bathroom mirror. The reflective surface now steamed up, concealed my reflection from me. As the mist began to clear, I half-expected to see my familiar deer visage, as I always had...
Dragging the towel over my face to dry it, my hand reached out and swished away the condensation and steam...
What I saw reflected at me, wasn't me...
The fog dissipated, revealing not the comforting sight of a deer but the image of a human – a version of me I couldn't comprehend. Panic surged through me, and I stumbled backward, tripping over the shower's edge. The agony that followed, both physical and existential, was unlike anything I'd ever felt. My head smacked against the rear wall of the shower, only adding to my already insurmountable agony.
It was unlike anything I'd ever felt, turned my stomach, sickening bile rippled up my throat and my vision blurred, doubled, trembled...then I knew no more...
*
I woke, the back of my head and neck sticky and tacky, with what, I dared not ask myself. Blind from the sickening nausea that clenched my entrails, I crawled out of the shower stall, gripping the counter. I expected to feel, to hear the click and clatter of my hooflets, as I levered myself up – my hooves now soft – malleable...
No, not hooves...
A sense of horror overcame me, as I forced my blood-covered eyes open with fingers – that were devoid of fur, then stared speechless into the mirror...
Staring into the mirror, it wasn't a reflection that gazed back...
I saw it – a whitetail deer, its beautiful brown eyes confused and watery, a deepening frown creasing its brow, as it slowly reached up, placing a three-fingered paw on the glass, its terrified, frightened face looking back at me...screaming silently in its abject terror at what it saw from the other side...
Gone...
Gone was who I am...
WhatI am...
Gone, is Thorne the Deer...
In its pace, as the deer swirled and vanished like smoke in the wind, was something new, something terrifying, its face streaked with rivulets of dried blood, a scene out of some horror movie...
In its place...
No, I refuse to believe this, I'm unconscious, probably bleeding out, naked and exposed, on the floor of the shower...
I look again, my hand pressed against the glass of the mirror, tears streaking down my cheeks...
Gone, is the deer I knew... in its place...
Thorne...
The human...
END