Vampire Friend in the Box of Mirrors
Al and I had the ingenious idea of placing him in a box of mirrors on account of him being a vampire. I wanted to know what he would see if there was no reflection on the infinite plane of copied mirrors. But as soon as I closed the door, he let out a blood-curdling scream.
I threw the door open and he looked through me with a 1000-yard stare.
“What did you see, Al?” I prodded.
“I saw… infinity,” he whispered.
“You mean like when I look in a mirror, I see an infinite number of myself?”
He looked at me and frowned. He pulled me into the box and pointed to one of the walls.
“What do you see?” he hissed.
I saw myself. Then another one behind him, looking at another one of me and so on and so on.
“An infinite amount of me — “
“No!!” he cried. He pointed a sharp finger at my reflection.
“Count them,” he ordered plainly.
“What?”
“Count. Them. They’re finite. You can only see so far before you get in your own way.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I shook my head, followed by 100s of my other selves doing the same.
“Then count them. If you get to 1000, I’ll give you $100.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it, deciding the $100 would be worth as much as the bragging rights I’d earn. I counted under my breath for a couple of seconds and slowly stopped and tried stooping my head.
“What are you doing?” Al asked slyly.
“I’m just trying to…” I didn’t want to finish the sentence.
“Get out of your own way?” he offered.
I turned away from the mirror, and conceded, “I couldn’t get past 70.”
“Mmmm,” he looked across the mirrors.
“Then what exactly did you see?” I pried.
“Infinity!!” he exclaimed jubilantly. “I could see in every direction with no limitation. It wasn’t like sitting with my eyes closed, or looking at the stars. I could see everything. It was overwhelming. I witnessed history and the future.”
“Wait, did you see an expanse of infinity or the past and future?”
“Infinity encompasses all of that! It was everything and more! I can unlock the secrets of the universe.”
I looked over to the box, unable to think of the possibilities that lied within it.
“The secrets of the universe are in this box…” I went up to touch it with the respect it deserved.
I heard Al giggling behind me.
“What?” I demanded.
“I lied, man. It’s just a box of mirrors.”