Falling

Falling

1. The Fall

Ethan jolted awake with the sensation of falling. His breath came in short gasps as he grasped at the sheets beneath him, his pulse hammering in his ears. His bedroom was dark, illuminated only by the blinking red glow of his alarm clock. 3:12 AM.

He swallowed hard and tried to steady himself. It was just a dream.

But was it? The memory clung to him—standing at the top of a spiraling staircase that seemed to stretch into infinity, an unseen force pulling him forward, down, down, down. The feeling of weightlessness before the crushing inevitability of impact.

Except he never hit the ground. He always woke up just before.

He wiped his damp forehead and forced himself to take slow, measured breaths. Maybe it’s stress. Lack of sleep. Too much caffeine.

Whatever it was, this dream—this fall—had been happening for weeks.

Ethan swung his legs over the side of the bed and padded toward the bathroom. The mirror reflected his exhausted face, dark circles under his eyes like bruises.

Something flickered in the corner of his vision.

He spun around.

Nothing. Just the dim glow of the streetlight filtering through his blinds.

He exhaled sharply. You’re just spooking yourself.

Shaking his head, he turned off the light and climbed back into bed.

2. Deja Vu

The next morning, Ethan sat at the café across from his best friend, Sam, who stirred sugar into his coffee absentmindedly.

"You look like hell," Sam said, eyeing him over the rim of his mug.

"Thanks," Ethan muttered, rubbing his temples. "I had that dream again."

"The falling one?"

"Yeah. Same as always. But..." He hesitated, the words thick on his tongue. "It’s starting to feel—different. Like it’s not just a dream."

Sam arched an eyebrow. "How so?"

Ethan hesitated before lowering his voice. "I saw something."

Sam leaned in. "What do you mean?"

"In the mirror. Just for a second. A flicker of—something. Like a shadow where there shouldn't have been one."

Sam gave him a skeptical look. "Dude, you’re barely sleeping. Your brain’s playing tricks on you."

Ethan wanted to believe that.

But something deep inside him whispered: What if it’s not?

3. The Mirror

That night, Ethan stood in front of his bathroom mirror again, gripping the sink so hard his knuckles turned white. His heart thumped unevenly in his chest.

"Okay," he whispered to himself. "If you're real, show yourself."

Silence.

He exhaled, feeling foolish.

Then—

A flicker.

A shape moved in the mirror’s reflection.

Ethan froze.

The thing in the mirror wasn’t his reflection.

It was him—but not him.

Its eyes were black voids, its face pale and smooth, almost featureless. And then it smiled—a slow, unnatural stretch of the lips that did not belong to him.

Ethan stumbled backward. His breath hitched in his throat.

The mirror-Ethan lifted a single hand and pressed its fingers against the glass. A whisper slithered into his mind like a razor against silk:

"Wake up."

The bathroom light flickered. The air in the room grew thick, pressing against him like a suffocating weight.

He clenched his fists. "This is a dream," he muttered, forcing himself to breathe. "This is just another dream."

Mirror-Ethan tilted its head, grin widening.

"Are you sure?"

4. The Wake-Up Call

Ethan woke up in his bed, drenched in sweat.

The alarm clock blinked: 3:12 AM.

His stomach twisted. No. That’s not right.

He scrambled out of bed, his breath ragged. The dream—had it been a dream?

He rushed to the bathroom. The mirror reflected his pale, haunted face. Nothing else. No shadowy figure. No grinning doppelgänger.

He exhaled shakily, pressing a hand to his chest.

His phone buzzed on the counter. A text from Sam.

Sam: Dude, I had the weirdest dream about you. Call me.

Ethan’s fingers shook as he dialed. Sam picked up on the first ring.

"Ethan?" Sam’s voice was unsteady. "Man, something’s not right."

Ethan swallowed hard. "What do you mean?"

Sam hesitated. Then: "In my dream, you were falling. But this time... you hit the ground."

A cold chill swept over Ethan’s skin.

"And?" he whispered.

Sam hesitated. "And you didn’t wake up."

5. The Truth

Ethan didn’t sleep for the next two days.

Every time he closed his eyes, he felt the pull of the dream. The fall. The infinite descent into darkness.

He avoided mirrors. Avoided anything that showed his reflection.

But on the third night, exhaustion won.

He slipped into sleep.

And found himself standing at the top of the staircase again.

But this time, he wasn’t alone.

The mirror-Ethan stood beside him.

"You figured it out," it murmured, voice smooth and quiet.

Ethan's pulse pounded. "Figured what out?"

The reflection tilted its head. "That this isn't real."

Ethan’s breath caught.

"This world, your life... it’s the dream."

The words settled over him like a lead weight.

"No," he whispered. "That’s not possible."

Mirror-Ethan smiled.

"You've been asleep for a very, very long time, Ethan. But now, it’s time to wake up."

The ground beneath Ethan’s feet trembled. The world rippled like disturbed water.

He turned, his heart thudding. "I don’t want to go."

The reflection reached for him.

Ethan fell.

6. Wake Up

Ethan gasped as his eyes flew open.

He wasn’t in his bed.

He was in a hospital room.

The steady beep of a heart monitor filled the silence. Sunlight streamed in through the window. His body felt heavy, sluggish.

A nurse gasped. "Doctor! He’s awake!"

Footsteps rushed toward him. A familiar voice—his mother’s—sobbed. "Ethan? Oh my God, Ethan!"

His lips were dry. His throat ached. He tried to speak, but the words stuck.

The doctor leaned over him, shining a light into his eyes. "Ethan, can you hear me?"

He nodded weakly.

"You’ve been in a coma for three years."

His mind reeled. The dreams. The falls. The voice whispering for him to wake up.

None of it had been real.

Or had it?

As his mother squeezed his hand, Ethan turned his head slightly—just enough to catch his reflection in the hospital window.

For a split second, he saw it.

The other him.

Smiling.

And then it was gone.

The beeping of the heart monitor quickened.

Ethan's breath hitched.

Because deep down, he knew the truth.

He had woken up.

But not all of him.