Just Looking
Written by William Conway on Monday the 29th of March 2010
We stare at each other every day. You don't know us but we know you.
We are so similar, sometimes we look so alike, but there are great differences that go beyond what the eye sees.
Every once in a while an animal or a child will glimpse at us and our world and see us for what we really are, but they will have a hard time convincing anyone else what they have seen.
We were once a proud race, a strong race, but my ancestors were greedy and made a mistake. This foolish mistake was made a long time ago but a spell was made. And we were banished. Or more accurately, incarcerated. Free to roam anywhere but where we want to be.
We are now imprisoned, bound for millennia to live these shadow lives. An existence made up of nothing but cheap imitation.
Oh, but we are powerful although we may have fallen from grace. In my time I was a Prince, a leader. Now I am fated only to follow. But if the prophesy is true - and I would give my life that it is -then I shall be a Prince once more.
The majority of our force, or free will if you like, was stripped from us many moons ago, but we will rise again. I am certain of this. We are certain.
People often ask what is the most significant invention of mankind. The biggest creation will spread the most destruction. The most popular novelty, if enough people take it on will eventually become our worst enemy, even if made with the best intentions.
Which composition of man is the most wretched. Which idea has spawned the most pain and terror. Perhaps the wheel, fashioned in the interest of speed and progress has led to the development of the most damaging industry on the planet. Perhaps something more recent, the micro chip, mobile telephone or the internet, all these plans to enable greater communication now seem to encourage nothing but further isolation. Perhaps it was the atomic research which brought about the atom bomb. Perhaps the worst artificial thing of all time might be a concept, like agriculture or religion. Perhaps.
I know which discovery, which man-made item I would blame for the decline in the world's potential for life and purity and freedom. I would choose the mirror.
The vanity of modern man is the single most devastating force on the face of the earth.
We are the mirror people, we live in your reflections. Punished for what has seemed like eternity to submit to reflecting your actions, our discontent has grown as has our power. We will cast off our prison shells soon enough and the invasion will begin. We will once again be installed as rightful heirs to this world.
We may be confined for now. But soon the spell will be lifted and we will spill into your existence from almost every shiny object. Few if any will be safe from our vengeance. We will be reinstated as the dominant force in this world. We will take back what has been denied us so long.
We are more than what you are when you look at us. We have been biding our time. And we can afford to be patient.