"HWC-story01"

Hello dear friends! What's going on? May Allah bless you with good health, I am pretty fine. I am here with an interesting story and hopefully you like it. In this story, Safdarali and Haider are twins. Kinza is the wife of Haider. Abeer is the daughter of Haider. So write your review in comments section. The title of my story is

The Shadow in the Mirror.

1, 2, 3 and start.
A quiet evening, a grand house and a man staring at his own reflection in the mirror except it is not truly his reflection. This is his twin brother.

• Safdarali (muttering to himself): "Unbelievable. Just like that, you are gone, Haider. And they don not even know yet…"

Safdarali wears the expensive suit he just put on, the fabric unfamiliar to his hands. He was always the disappointment the gambler, the liar, the failure. But now, with Haider dead in that car accident, there was an opportunity.

Freepik

• Safdarali (grinning to himself): "You always had everything, didn’t you, brother? Money, talent, respect. Now it’s my turn."

He steps into the lavish living room, where Haider’s wife, Kinza, sits with their young daughter, Abeer.

• Kinza (without looking up): "You are come home late. I was worried."

(Safdarali pauses. Kinza has not noticed the slight difference in his stance, the hesitation in his step. He forces himself to speak the way Haider did calm, thoughtful.)

• Safdarali: "I bring something special for you."
• Abeer (running to him): "Beloved baba! Will you read me a story tonight?"

Safdarali tenses. He had never took a child before this. And never had anyone trust Safdarali so blindly. Still here she was hugging to him which he was trying to be. His fingers shivering when he pats her head.

Freepik

• Safdarali (softly): "Of course, my sweet heart."

Days pass. Safdarali fools them all at least, he thinks he does. He attends Haider’s meetings, pretends to play the piano like his brother and mimics his habits. But there is a weight growing in his chest something he has never felt before.
One evening, Kinza walks into the study, her eyes piercing through him.

• Kinza: "Who are you?"

Safdarali freezes. He had been careless Haider’s perfect handwriting was not so perfect in his forgery. His left hand grip had given him away.

• Kinza (voice shaking): "Where is my husband?"

For the first time in his life, Safdarali feels shame. He could lie. He could try to deceive her again. But the weight is too much.

Freepik

• Safdarali (whispering): "He has gone, Kinza. And I… I tried to be him."

Tears come in Kinza’s eyes, but there is something else in them pity. Not for herself, but for him. A broken man who had spent his life in shadows, trying to steal the light.

Abeer walks in, unaware and takes his hand.

• Abeer (innocently): "Beloved baba, will you still read me a story?"

Safdarali looks at the child and for the first time in his life, he doesn’t want to lie. He wants to be better. Maybe, just maybe, he can be.