Don’t Answer Your Own Voice

I got a text from my mom telling me not to come home, which was confusing because I was already

there, sitting in the quiet house where every sound felt too loud, and before I could

reply my phone buzzed again saying there was someone inside pretending to be me,

and that’s when I noticed the reflection in the dark TV screen wasn’t moving when I did,

it was smiling wider and wider, and as the lights flickered off one by one behind me,

my phone lit up with one last message from her that said, if it asks you questions, don’t answer,

just as a voice perfectly matching mine whispered my name from the hallway.