Her friend, Mara, approached her with a devastating secret and a caveat —
“This stays between us.”
Clara agreed.
But…such a scintillating headline!
Mara’s secret couldn’t go to waste.
It could be —
Fiction.
A different name. A different place.
Same hurt. Same tension. Same drama.
Mara wouldn’t be the wiser.
She uploaded it.
Likes. Comments. Traction.
Guilt visited — only briefly.
Her next teaser —
“Ready for more?”
But the readers weren’t the ready ones.
Her laptop accessed private sites —
Voraciously.
It deleted entries.
Exposed private messages —
A secret confession.
Click. Fiction.
Shocked, she shut it.
The cursor jumped.
Clara had only seconds to stop the gobbling.
She tried to delete the story —
But the laptop became even more voracious.
Then, the cursor hovered, blinking.
Over Mara’s angst.
Then, she knew.
She deleted the wayward fiction.
The cursor waited, blinking.
Clara typed.
Her own story.
Mirrors of the Mind by Michelle Liew is a collection of psychological and supernatural short stories that explore the quiet unease beneath ordinary moments. These are not tales of spectacle, but of subtle fracture — where memory distorts, silence speaks, and the self is not always singular. In these stories, what is unseen often carries the greatest weight, and what lingers is not what is shown, but what is felt
What should be happening? No one really understood. Disorda was in chronic trouble -always experiencing an apparent disorder epidemic. Residents put the wrong bins out for disposal. Colleagues were 6 minutes late for committee meetings. Children wore mismatched socks and pinafore sections. There was a constant outbreak of activity-at a highly unacceptable level. The situation couldn’t be allowed to deteriorate. Officials convened an emergency council meeting. Prevention far outranked the reaction of Disorda’s townsfolk. For ANY chaos.
The department’s measures initially sounded - sufficient. Residents planned journeys, maintained contingency food supplies, and notified each other of schedule changes. Everything was - orderly. People approved the initiatives. Prevention, of course, was better than any cliched cure. They issued directives: “Failure to predict unexpected outcomes will result in severe consequences.”
So the Department of Chaos Prevention expanded its initiatives. It created forms for:
Changing one’s mind. 2)Arriving unexpectedly; 3)Cancelling appointments; and 4)making unwarranted purchases. One had to provide 72 hours’ notice before commencing spontaneous activities. It sanctioned Approved Spontaneity. A resident received a warning after making an unauthorised decision not to have her usual noodles for dinner. Another received a court summons for undeclared sneezing. The resident had failed to make reasonable efforts to expect it. Of course, unauthorised decision-making fell - By almost 98 per cent.
So Disorda experienced a cultural shift. Its people stopped deciding things - on their own. A shopkeeper’s refrigerator leaked until the water reached knee-height, but he waited for authorised maintenance assessment. A teacher noticed a hanging classroom fan but would not move the students before authorised approval. The caution applied especially to council employees. Extreme caution.
Then, the town encountered chaos worthy of its name. A water main burst in the town centre. A flash flood of water poured across the road. “Shouldn’t the water supply be shut off?” A Disorda-ly resident asked. “Well…” The municipal worker hesitated. It would amount to an - Unscheduled Infrastructure Intervention. The water continued rising - dangerously. But it hadn’t offered advance notification. “Why don’t we just shut the valve off?” Someone suggested meekly. Everyone shot him dirty looks. At last, the worker discovered CP-47: Permission To Respond To Unexpected Circumstances. A collective sigh of relief. Until they read the instructions.
It contained one crucial requirement: Nature of anticipated circumstance. The municipal worker couldn’t complete it. The event had been impossible to predict. “Ridiculous!” The Disorda-ly resident protested, summarily shutting the valve off. An official agreed - with rehearsed sympathy. “Unfortunately, extenuating events fall outside our existing framework.” After all, regulations were - regulations. He issued the Disorda-ly resident a citation for Unauthorised Emergency Intervention.
The Disorda-ly resident garnered - unusual sympathy. The Department was forced to intervene. It conducted a review that found its procedures - insufficiently comprehensive. Additional safeguards had to be put in place. They promised that such disorder would never happen again. A new body was formed to oversee its procedures: The Department of Chaos Prevention Prevention.
Mirrors of the Mind by Michelle Liew is a collection of psychological and supernatural short stories that explore the quiet unease beneath ordinary moments. These are not tales of spectacle, but of subtle fracture — where memory distorts, silence speaks, and the self is not always singular. In these stories, what is unseen often carries the greatest weight, and what lingers is not what is shown, but what is felt
Being the party wallflower was a drag — something that Edwin knew too well. He could clear a conversation circle —
Without even trying.
The office party fell two days before Christmas Eve, the usual end-of-year celebration.
Before he’d even tried to share his anecdote, a listener had remembered another urgent meeting.
The foul restroom became a source of respite for another.
The wall clock gained a new admirer. The number of minutes it took before he could leave became particularly sexy.
Edwin noticed. Very much. He sensed, rightly, that people were tolerating rather than enjoying him.
And decided that it was time for a change.
On the way home, an advertisement by a Public Speaking Guru caught his eye —
Become a scintillating conversationalist.
And underneath it the irresistible promise —
Never bore another soul.
Edwin reached for his cell.
The package the Guru sold him was —
Unconventional.
Scintillating in and of itself.
It contained a few silver tablets and a cryptic instruction —
Take one tablet before any social engagement.
So the night of the gathering —
Edwin swallowed one with gusto —
And became more magnetic than Magneto.
He was magnificent.
Astute. Everyone wanted to listen to his wonderfully charming anecdotes.
Laughter broke out —
At the right moments.
People crowded round exits —
Refusing to leave.
He started wearing studded suits that —
Sparkled.
His 70’s hustle was a hit at every gathering.
He had studs multiplying —
And was electrifying.
Edwin swallowed another tablet before the next party —
A little too eagerly.
He scintillated.
Again.
But cheeky, malfunctioning executive functions decided —
The anecdotes had to lengthen.
And became too long.
Midway through one, his mouth circled —
And paused.
For seconds too long.
Then —
Zap.
A spark got his tongue.
His mouth circled again.
Zap.
He pulled out all the stops to remain interesting. Circled his mouth once more and —
Zap.
Every pause electrified. Literally. Edwin filled pauses with silly jokes, unwanted trivia and lame stories.
“A real entertainer,” someone said.
Burning from his now almost permanently circular mouth, Edwin agreed.
His sparkle became the office must-have.
At the next dinner party, his tablet became —
Relentless.
Edwin just couldn’t stop.
The studded suits drifted between courses, with flowing anecdotes to complete them.
People chewing cheese? They needed cheese trivia.
Drinking a Martini? That poor soul needed a 007 joke.
Soon, the guests’ fascination turned to —
Fatigue.
One finally snapped.
“Edwin?”
He paused mid-sentence.
“Shut up.”
But his mouth continued circling. He sparkled furiously.
So Edwin stopped being scintillating.
The office accepted boring —
When needed.
Mirrors of the Mind by Michelle Liew is a collection of psychological and supernatural short stories that explore the quiet unease beneath ordinary moments. These are not tales of spectacle, but of subtle fracture — where memory distorts, silence speaks, and the self is not always singular. In these stories, what is unseen often carries the greatest weight, and what lingers is not what is shown, but what is felt
While others slept, he created. His YouTube Studio playlist was probably longer than that of YouTube Vlogger Mark Weins’.
Productivity was a bedtime novel.
He often scrolled till dawn broke, standing firmly by the maxim that sleep was for losers.
Then, on a fine morning at 3:15 a m. —
A gentle, courteous knock.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The taps clicked like punctured malice.
Politeness was never so unsettling.
A sharply dressed Repo Man.
He knew this day would come.
“Good afternoon, Sir. I represent The Union Bank’s Department of Restitution. You’ve probably been expecting us.” The smile on his face was almost a sneer. “And according to what we have on record, you’ve accumulated substantial debt.”
Graham laughed.
He blatantly ignored the banker’s attempts to administer the necessary documents for the repossession of his home.
Then, he lost the ability to yawn.
The next morning, the coffee’s ability to rejuvenate him was —
Useless.
Soon, every sleepless night increased the Repo Man’s presence.
He arrived courteously. More punctually than the city bus.
And he claimed something —
Strange —
With each visit.
Then Graham’s dreams vanished.
Music no longer motivated him.
His sense of humour was repossessed pending —
Payment.
One receipt at a time.
Peaceful afternoons vanished.
Graham gulped cup after cup of coffee. His energy depleted with
each cup.
The more he drank, the more of himself he lost.
In exhaustion, he signed contracts his mind never read.
The collector arrived for his final visit.
He closed the ledger.
“We will collect your tomorrow…
Tonight.”
And for the first time, Graham declined the late-night demand.
He ignored the knock.
The collector never returned.
But his yawn did.
Then, he laughed again.
Sleep finally returned — in peaceful starts.
Rest started to accumulate interest.
Graham still focused on production.
But he no longer paid for it with Himself.
Mirrors of the Mind by Michelle Liew is a collection of psychological and supernatural short stories that explore the quiet unease beneath ordinary moments. These are not tales of spectacle, but of subtle fracture — where memory distorts, silence speaks, and the self is not always singular. In these stories, what is unseen often carries the greatest weight, and what lingers is not what is shown, but what is felt.
Monday morning fell on the office, just like any other. Jamie and his colleagues gathered, chattering excitedly among themselves. The Team of the Week would be honoured with the chime of a big brass bell. The bell. Huge. Brass. Gleaming. It tolled. Not chimed. Tolled.
They sat, voices escalating. Jamie’s team looked forward to this week’s ceremony; a plaque and gift vouchers awaited. Promotions awaited. The Team Leader and Project Manager stood to address the different company departments. Then, his colleagues’ voices started to blend. Oddly. Almost a chant. “Together… Together..” The Project Manager rang the bell. It responded. Slowly. Pedantically. Longer chimes than it should have. For what, or whom, Jamie didn’t know. The voices started syncing in a more urgent, faster rhythm. “Together…. Together…” Jamie looked about the table, his confusion rising. Everyone sounded too– Synchronised. TOGETHER. The Project Manager launched his pedantic, customary pep talk. Jamie’s eye fell on an old staff photograph. He went over the people in it, squinting. Counted the numbers in the different departments. His eyes lingered on the picture. Then — A familiar face, not present. He had spoken to it before. The brass bell gleamed. For the permission to toll.
Jamie’s eyes went over the photographs again.
He counted the employees meticulously, trying to remember each name.
His missing colleague’s.
A familiar face whose name simply refused to appear.
He spoke to other colleagues, pointing to the photograph.
“Hey, who was this?”
They shot him blank stares.
“As far as I know,the department has always had the same number of people.”
Robert seemed genuinely surprised by Jamie’s question. He had been with the company for a good three decades.
Jamie’s eyes scanned the office for a previous staff member.
An extra access card, hanging on it an unclaimed lanyard, caught his attention.
He looked at Robert.
Who quickly looked away.
Other colleagues returned quickly to their seats.
Then, a familiar tolling.
His colleagues glanced at the brass bell.
Almost reflexively.
Project Manager David took centre stage.
“Whoever closes the next contract gets a permanent place in this company.”
The promise was too —guaranteed.
The winning team gathered around the bell.
Each member placed his hand on it, as tradition dictated.
A toll.
Low.
Heavy.
Then Rita’s silhouette lost its legs.
Arms.
Jamie stared, open- mouthed.
Rita was no more. She was in the company’s memory.
Not her own.
Jamie stared at the photograph.
No more Rita.
She had sacrificed—
For the team.
Sacrifice. A deceptively simple word.
He stared at his own feet.
Slowly disappearing.
He was becoming part of the team.
The bell tolled.
Mirrors of the Mind by Michelle Liew is a collection of psychological and supernatural short stories that explore the quiet unease beneath ordinary moments. These are not tales of spectacle, but of subtle fracture — where memory distorts, silence speaks, and the self is not always singular. In these stories, what is unseen often carries the greatest weight, and what lingers is not what is shown, but what is felt.
