Creative Writing Awards - 2012/2013

1st Prize - The shapeshifter  

It is 7.30 a.m., the alarm goes off signaling the beginning of a new day. I do the same routine I do every day. I set my clothes on the heater, turn it on and dash to the bathroom hoping to get the shower as fast as possible to avoid the cold. When I finish showering I stay in the bathroom that is now full of hot air. I clean the condensation off the mirror in the hope of combing my hair. As I wipe the mirror three or four times I come to the sudden realization that my face was different, I mean, could it be?

Everything was the same but my face, my face looked horrible. Could the mirror see who I really was, a monster with no feelings or emotions, just a sack of bones with a head, no feelings, no conscience. Maybe it knew what I had done, that John’s death wasn’t so much of an accident as they think. Could the mirror have become my partner in crime?

I check another mirror but it is me, there must be something different with that mirror I guess I will hide it and check it another time. But for now I need to play my cards right, could there be another mirror that sees me for who I really am? Should I destroy the only thing that knows who I truly am?

I will think about it after work.                                                Pedro Lopes (10º 5 – 2012/13)