• I sat on the coach, facing the television but not actually watching it. I was in a dream like state, there were not emotions or feelings or thoughts. It was as if I was being smothered by a thick white cloud, the emotions, thoughts and feelings are still there but are being pushed down. I called it the Zombie Syndrome because you couldn’t do anything but sit around, staring straight ahead just like a zombie.
    I stared at the flickering screen and hearing the loud obnoxious noises but I couldn’t make sense of any of it. The only thing I seemed to be able to focus on is breathing, because if I didn’t think about it I stopped breathing and that was uncomfortable. I tried breathing in and out, but my mind went blank again and the breathing stopped. My lungs started to burn, which was painful but nice since I could feel it, and I tried to make myself breathe again. The cloud thickened, and I drifted farther and farther away. Soon, I was gone, trapped inside my mind.

    I was standing in a gray and cold desert. There was no sand but a hard rocky surface with thousands of cracks. It was colorless, and the sky was blank. There was, however, a mirror. It was a simple, full-length mirror, and like everything else, it was colorless. Inside the mirror was my reflection, except she didn’t move, only stared straight ahead.
    I touched the mirror, and my fingers slide into the freezing glass. I quickly pulled my hand away, and watched as thick silver goo dripped from my fingers and disappeared. I looked back at the mirror but the reflection hadn’t changed. I glared at my reflection and with clenched fist, I punched the mirror. The glass didn’t break, only rippled. My hand wasn’t bruised and I felt no pain, and this would make me angry if I could feel any emotions.
    I stared at my reflection, who would only look at me with empty eyes. I moved around, hoping she would move too, but she was still. I sighed, feeling a brief moment of frustration that was quickly replaced by apathy. “Who are you?” I asked. I wasn’t expecting an answer, but I was wrong.
    She lifted her right hand and pressed it against the glass. Her lips moved but I couldn’t hear anything. I can’t read lips, but in my mind I could hear, faintly, “I am You.”
    “Hello You.” I answered, and hesitantly placed my left hand over her right. My hand didn’t slip into the cool mirror like before, but stayed firmly in place over You’s hand. “I don’t like it here.” I said plainly.
    “How can that be if you don’t feel anything?” You asked wordlessly. I heard a hint of mocking under the colorless words, and again felt a moment of frustration.
    “Let me out.” I said, knowing better then to try and answer You’s questions. You didn’t respond, only stared at me. Time passed, how much time I’m not sure, and I wondered if I should do something. You beat me to it, her fingers pressed through the glass and curled around my hand. They were cold, but when I tried to pull away, she held on with an amazing grip. “Let me go!” I shouted.
    She ignored me and tightened her grip. She pressed her other hand against the glass and pushed it through to grab my other arm. I screamed and tried to pull away but she was too strong. With both hands holding tightly to mine, she pulled herself out of the mirror. She grinned and let me go. I backed and watched her stretch and hum happily. She didn’t attack me, only stood there. I did notice that the desert was fading away, like a white fog was devouring it. My feelings went numb again, no more panic or concern, only a thick apathy.
    “Stay here. There is no need to rush. Who cares about work or time? There is plenty of time!” You said as she hummed. I nodded, and I stared off into the distant, not really seeing anything. As the fog closed in, and everything started to fad away, I heard a voice far away in the back of my mind. It screamed at me to stop and do something. Begged me to snap out of it but the thick cloud dampened the voice’s panic. I closed my eyes and drifted away.

    I don’ know how much time passed. It could have been second, it could have years for all I knew, time had no meaning. I felt the voice that was far away continue to scream and beg for me to fight the apathy, and after a while I did feel something. A burning fire inside my soul, filled with emotion and desire. I opened my eyes, slowly as if I was just waking up, and as I became more aware of my surrounds the more the fire burned and pushed emotion through the thick cloud.
    The desert started to return as the fog rolled away. You watched me, still smiling but no longer humming. I remembered what happened, how I wanted o feel again, and how I hated the cold mirror and You. The fire raged as I thought about everything, every good thing and every bad thing, until I finale burst. I screamed, and pushed the rest of the fog away. You stopped smiling and took a few steps away from me. I went to the mirror and slamed my hands into it. This time, my hands didn’t sink into the cold surface but made it crack. Every hit made the fire bun rbighter, and as the fire grew so did the damage.
    Suddenly the mirror, with thousands of cracks in it, shattered and disappeared. You screamed in surprise and shattered along with the mirror. With a final scream I pushed all the emptiness away, and added some color to the gray world.

    I sat on the coach, feeling drowsy but content. I relaxed, feeling the apathy disappear and my emotions settle from it’s rage. “Better luck next time You.” I mumbled to myself. In my mind, far away with the apathy I heard a chuckle, and then it was gone. I stretched, turned off the T.V, and went outside.