Friendly Voice
A Gymnast's Symbiote"Tell the viewers how you, Chelsea Yan, got to where you are right now?" My interviewer asked.
I thought about it for a moment. It all started when I joined Junior Gymnastics at the YMCA...
"I'm nervous," I told mom as we walked in the ladies locker room. She just signed me up for gymnasts at the local YMCA and I had butterflies in my stomach.
She sat me down on a nearby bench and rubbed my back. "You'll do fine sweetie. Just have fun; nothing can go wrong if you feel good about yourself." I recall smiling and seeing her reach into a shopping bag that she carried with her.
"I have a surprise for you; a present for your first day of training!" My mom said excitedly.
She dug into the bag and pulled out a light blue leotard with little shiny sequins that lined the yolk and sleeve of the outfit. She handed me the one-piece garment and I took it and admired the baby blue color of the outfit and the little decorations all over the exterior. I couldn't wait to try it on.
The next thing I knew, I saw myself in the mirror of the locker room. I looked so cute in my baby blue gymnasts leotard with my hair done into a ponytail.
I turned towards mom and said, "thanks Mom! I love it." She smiled back at me and together we walked out of the locker room and into the main gymnasium.
As I walked out to the gym, I found myself holding onto my workout bag while still wearing the blue leotard that mom gave me. My parents were taking their seats on the bleachers as I saw other gymnasts stretch along the wall underneath the stands. I must have flashed forward to my first real competition at the YMCA National Gymnasts Competition. And I was gonna win; no matter what.
I placed my bag on a nearby mat and started to prepare myself but I soon realized that I left my pre-wrap in the locker room. I sighed and walked back in and headed to the locker that I was temporarily using for the day. When I unlocked it, I saw the pre-wrap but I also saw something else...
"Wait a minute," I said confusingly. "I don't remember this part of the story..." My interviewer shushed me and told me to continue.
I looked deeper inside the locker and pulled out a leotard that I had never seen before. It had a silver lining with a black irregular shape around the naval area. On its torso, there were traces of colors that shimmered off its smooth surface; refracting like an oil spill upon sunlight. The outfit itself felt even more rubbery than what I was currently wearing; almost like it could stretch to fit anyone or morph into anything.
For some reason, the longer I held onto it the more I wanted to switch out of what I was currently wearing. As though the silver-obsidian leotard heard my thoughts, the outfit started to melt in front of my eyes. But something was odd, its material didn't drip on the floor... rather it clung to me like bubble gum. As terrifying as this was, I remained oddly calm. I didn't feel that this melting suit posed any danger to me in fact I started to feel a certain warmth that I couldn't explain.
Then after a few seconds, I remember hearing a faint voice inside me. I urged me to stay calm and repeated what my mom always told me, "nothing can go wrong if you feel good about yourself."
Inch by inch, the blackness of the suit enveloped me and dissolved any trace of the blue starter leotard that I wore into the locker room. At first, the sides of the ooze-y leotard felt loose and not comfortable at all. But after a few seconds, the material compressed itself until it felt snug around my calves, latched over my shoulders, and secured a tight fit across the middle part of my body. After a few minutes, the consistency of the black suit solidified and I looked across the room towards a nearby mirror to see myself fully encased in my new silver and jet-black attire.
I gave myself a cheeky grin and sauntered off back outside; completely forgetting my pre-wrap.
"Did you win the tournament?" My interviewer asked.
I nodded, "Oh I won alright..."
I remember that I won first place. I was standing on the podium and about to accept the trophy for first place... but wait a minute.
"Chelsea! Chelsea! Chelsea!" I heard the entire auditorium chant my name; I don't remember this happening. Then I saw my fellow gymnast start to bow as if I was royalty. This doesn't make sense... I don't know what's happening!?
I looked down and around me and felt a warming sensation spread throughout my body. And the voice, that I heard in the locker room earlier, started to speak to me in a louder more authoritative tone.
"You won. And it's all thanks to us. We did it."
"Wait, who was the we?" My interviewer asked while deeply breathing. She had on a black trench coat with a brown hat the covered her eyes. Now that I think about it, why was I being interviewed...?
"I don't know..." I started to speak.
"I do," she said.
And with that my interviewer tore off her trench coat and threw away her hat. She looked like me... in fact she was me! She was the reflection that I saw in the mirror when I was retelling my story. She was wearing the same black leotard that I wore when I left the locker room but something looked different... she looked more muscular than me and her jet-black hair was practically glowing.
"Join us Chelsea and together we'll be even stronger than ever before," my doppelganger suggested as she approached me trying to give me a hug. I tried to run away but I kept running in place. She moved closer and closer until...
I woke up, my eyes were still a little groggy. What a weird nightmare... or so I thought.
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