Darko Cernovsek
Soul Of Vengeance
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most tanned one of them all...?" - I murmured, lazily enjoying a searingly-hot afternoon on the Adriatic beach, slowly marinating under three litres of sunscreen. It was too hot to move, the water was like piss, at least the surface layers, not to mention too crowded for my taste, so the only thing to do, was to lie there and slowly boil alive. Lovely.
During every summer, one of my life's goals is to get the kind of tan that would make an Aborigin jealous. Not to mention the chicks are very much NOT into pale-ass city-zombies; in my experience, the chance to score was directly proportional to the amount of bronzed tan, covering the well-defined abs and lats. Not always an achievable state, as the balance between tanning and sunburn can be a razor's edge, especially if one cheaps out on the amount, and quality of sunscreen applied. Speaking from painful personal experience. But the effort was always there, and that was what counted. Naturally, the price to pay was always there, as well. Feeling of... tightness... all over the body, as the skin slowly adjusted.
Pacing back to the hotel two hours later, barefoot on the burning asphalt, was an exercise in applied endurance. And pain threshold. Which was threatening to spike past the aaagh-point, if at any time I had either of my feet on the ground for longer then half a second. Still, it provided a nice counterpoint to the feeling of ants crawling on my chest and back, accompanying the tightness, from the aftereffects of sun-exposure. But thankfully, there was no burn. So far, so good.
As I walked into my room, I was struck by the greenhouse-effect in there. Not as bad as in a car, but... It was hotter then outside, by a not-insignificant amount, for the simple reason that I, an idiot, forgot to leave the AC on, before I left for the beach. Despite telling myself I'll remeber to do so, next time. That's a lot of next times, by now. Stumbling over to the AC, I pressed it on, to full-blast, then stood in front of the room's mirror, giving myself a critical once-over, looking for that telltale-sign of a burn. There was none, which made me grin. Mission for the day, accomplished.
Suddenly, the AC behind me, died. I turned with a frown. Then a ghostly-voice from the mirror came at me, making me almost-jump:
~"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most vain one of them all?"~
Giving myself a two-count, controlling my nerves, I slowly turned back to it. My reflection smirked at me. Except it didn't look like me. It was pale, and the smoky breath from it's mouth indicated it was very cold, on the other side of the mirror.
~"Would you like to find out?"~ - my pale doppleganger grinned, and I suddenly felt myself being inexplicably drawn... in.
***
The Other Side
I stepped out, in a room identical in appearance and decor, to my own. But before I even took one full breath, I gasped in reaction. It was... Freezing. COLD! The sun was shining through the window, I could tell, but it radiated... cold, instead of heat. It was so cold I felt myself collapsing to my knees, short of breath, shuddering uncontrollably. Realising I was in danger of hyperventilating, I forced myself to steady my breathing, as I crawled to the room's exit.
Alternate dimension? Paralell universe? What the hell... ?
Was my thought process, as I crawled out in the hallway. The intense chill seemed to ease off a bit, but it was still freezing. A couple of female hotel guests, both pale as a wall, and in swimsuits, glanced over in some surprise.
"Look at this guy! Must've just arrived from the city, still tanned and all... eww! Come on, it's not THAT cold down here..." - one commented, shaking her head with a giggle, as they moved off. Given the towels they carried, very clearly on their way to the beach.
Teeth rattling together, I crawled back in. Hoping against hope this was all a very messed-up idea of a universal joke being played on me. Making my increasingly-agonised way back to the mirror, I looked up at it, pressing a palm.
"P...p...point t-t-taken... I... have to g-g-get out of here!" - I managed through my rattling teeth. Looking down at my fingers, I could see first signs of frostbite manifesting themselves.
My tanned doppleganger in the mirror, smirked.
~"I thought so. But next time, don't be so quick to want the heat gone. It's better then the alternative, isn't it?"~
***
My eyes snapped open... still standing in front of the mirror in my room... the AC at full blast droning behind me. All of a sudden, the stifling heat was... welcome. Stone-faced, I turned, and toned the AC down a bit. I didn't know whether what I experienced was real, or my mind playing tricks on me... but I didn't want to take any chances.
THE END
During every summer, one of my life's goals is to get the kind of tan that would make an Aborigin jealous. Not to mention the chicks are very much NOT into pale-ass city-zombies; in my experience, the chance to score was directly proportional to the amount of bronzed tan, covering the well-defined abs and lats. Not always an achievable state, as the balance between tanning and sunburn can be a razor's edge, especially if one cheaps out on the amount, and quality of sunscreen applied. Speaking from painful personal experience. But the effort was always there, and that was what counted. Naturally, the price to pay was always there, as well. Feeling of... tightness... all over the body, as the skin slowly adjusted.
Pacing back to the hotel two hours later, barefoot on the burning asphalt, was an exercise in applied endurance. And pain threshold. Which was threatening to spike past the aaagh-point, if at any time I had either of my feet on the ground for longer then half a second. Still, it provided a nice counterpoint to the feeling of ants crawling on my chest and back, accompanying the tightness, from the aftereffects of sun-exposure. But thankfully, there was no burn. So far, so good.
As I walked into my room, I was struck by the greenhouse-effect in there. Not as bad as in a car, but... It was hotter then outside, by a not-insignificant amount, for the simple reason that I, an idiot, forgot to leave the AC on, before I left for the beach. Despite telling myself I'll remeber to do so, next time. That's a lot of next times, by now. Stumbling over to the AC, I pressed it on, to full-blast, then stood in front of the room's mirror, giving myself a critical once-over, looking for that telltale-sign of a burn. There was none, which made me grin. Mission for the day, accomplished.
Suddenly, the AC behind me, died. I turned with a frown. Then a ghostly-voice from the mirror came at me, making me almost-jump:
~"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most vain one of them all?"~
Giving myself a two-count, controlling my nerves, I slowly turned back to it. My reflection smirked at me. Except it didn't look like me. It was pale, and the smoky breath from it's mouth indicated it was very cold, on the other side of the mirror.
~"Would you like to find out?"~ - my pale doppleganger grinned, and I suddenly felt myself being inexplicably drawn... in.
***
The Other Side
I stepped out, in a room identical in appearance and decor, to my own. But before I even took one full breath, I gasped in reaction. It was... Freezing. COLD! The sun was shining through the window, I could tell, but it radiated... cold, instead of heat. It was so cold I felt myself collapsing to my knees, short of breath, shuddering uncontrollably. Realising I was in danger of hyperventilating, I forced myself to steady my breathing, as I crawled to the room's exit.
Alternate dimension? Paralell universe? What the hell... ?
Was my thought process, as I crawled out in the hallway. The intense chill seemed to ease off a bit, but it was still freezing. A couple of female hotel guests, both pale as a wall, and in swimsuits, glanced over in some surprise.
"Look at this guy! Must've just arrived from the city, still tanned and all... eww! Come on, it's not THAT cold down here..." - one commented, shaking her head with a giggle, as they moved off. Given the towels they carried, very clearly on their way to the beach.
Teeth rattling together, I crawled back in. Hoping against hope this was all a very messed-up idea of a universal joke being played on me. Making my increasingly-agonised way back to the mirror, I looked up at it, pressing a palm.
"P...p...point t-t-taken... I... have to g-g-get out of here!" - I managed through my rattling teeth. Looking down at my fingers, I could see first signs of frostbite manifesting themselves.
My tanned doppleganger in the mirror, smirked.
~"I thought so. But next time, don't be so quick to want the heat gone. It's better then the alternative, isn't it?"~
***
My eyes snapped open... still standing in front of the mirror in my room... the AC at full blast droning behind me. All of a sudden, the stifling heat was... welcome. Stone-faced, I turned, and toned the AC down a bit. I didn't know whether what I experienced was real, or my mind playing tricks on me... but I didn't want to take any chances.
THE END