Rei stares at the girl in front of her.

She is greeted by another suspicious look.

"Are you my companion?" Rei asks, running a finger through the folds of the other girl's skirt. It looks real. It feels cold and unreal to the touch, though, but she accepts the image in front of her. Her companion is real.

More importantly, though, she has a companion.

Rei stares a bit more, then smiles.

Finally.

Someone else.

"I'm your companion, but I think you knew that, didn't you?" the girl speaks. She sounds glassy, like she wasn't a real being, her voice echoing, ethereal and dreamy. "My name is Chloe. Nice to meet you."

The smile on both their faces widen.

~~~~~~

It's fun speaking to Chloe.

She's a perfect person, a perfect friend. I have never seen a better companion than her and I am happy. Much, much happier than I was some time ago. How could I have survived without her during those past years? I must have been missing out on so much.

Chloe isn't just an ordinary person. She talks to me whenever I will her to and she appears from time to time - whenever I need her to be there. She is always there for me.

I've always wanted a companion like her. Understanding, kind, helpful, you know, the like. And here she is, standing in front of me, a huge smile on her face.

She isn't like any other person I've met. Unlike those friends, she listens to my tears and tell me what to do, even if it's what I've thought would work. She gives me affirmation that these plans are all right to go ahead with. She isn't like any other person, who would shake their head at my ideas and butt in with their own thoughts.

She gives me the courage to do things, even if the outcome may not be as good as we'd expected.

She seems to have some sort of telepathy too, you know. When I'm being pushed and forced to a corner, she hears my chain of thoughts and overflowing mind, and speaks to me. She tells me things from the side of my mind, calming things to soothe myself, and gives me methods to fight back.

Courage is what she gives, and it is what I receive from her.

She is my hero.

Most of the time, however, I spend my evenings in the washroom, away from the clutter and noise of the house, speaking to Chloe. She resides in places like mirrors and shiny, glossy surfaces, which I feel is painful for her, since she can't see the world properly. She doesn't tell me how to behave in front of others, and it is when I can shake away the shell I hide in and talk freely. She doesn't laugh at me. She doesn't think I am a freak.

She tries to comfort me as much as possible when the screams outside intensify and there is noise being made. She tries to tell me that there is nothing going on outside, that it is just a little argument between Mother and Father, but sometimes there is no comfort in her words. So, the both of us can only huddle together in the washroom and wait it out.

It is like a storm outside. Chloe waits it out with me. She is a great companion to be with.

Like any other person not from my school, though, she isn't allowed to follow me into the compound, but she is a sneaky one. I catch glimpses of her in the mirror, or in the glass. No one else can see her, though.

She is my hero, but no one can see her.

That's because she is mine. My friend, and no one else's.

She belongs to no one but me.

~~~~~~

Being Rei's father is, to be honest, a very tiring thing.

She worries me so much.

Giving her the attention she needs is difficult, because each time I try to talk to her she cowers away and refuses to open her mouth to speak her mind. Maybe it's because of the countless times I've quarrelled with that woman. 

My wife was a truly happy soul, pure and energetic, always up to some sort of adventure. Her eyes used to sparkle with mischief. She was a child at heart.

That was why I fell in love with her. Her mind, her heart, and her soul were beautiful and clean, as innocent as a child's.

Until Rei came along.

It wasn't Rei's fault. I don't blame Rei for whatever is happening now. If anything, I'm most worried for her and I wished I could have sought treatment more quickly in the past. Now, there is nothing I can do, and it has ruined Rei.

The soul is now stained with the stench of alcohol.

She is uncontrollable. With each day her depression swallows her more and more. It is difficult to protect Rei from my wife's ravings. She thrashes about all day, and the only thing I can do now is to bring her to a hospital.

My heart is forever shattered.

I don't know much about Rei's progress in school, nor what she does at home when I am at work, but whenever I come home, I hear her talking to someone in the washroom. However, there's no one with her in the little cramped space. She insists on showing me the "Chloe" she has befriended - and points to the mirror each and every time.

She tells me stories about her adventures with Chloe - running around and fighting the bullies she faced in school, skipping school when she didn't feel like attending lessons, stealing her classmates' work and copying it to her own worksheets. She tells me about Chloe's courage and how much she admires her. She tells me about how confident she feels around Chloe.

Who is Chloe?

Why can't I see her? Is she Rei's imaginary friend? Rei is not a child any more - she has grown out of that stage for imaginary friends.

She loves talking to the mirror, however.

She seems to have grown insane.

My wife and child are insane.

What is happening?



~~~~~~



I am Rei's psychiatrist.

Rei's father brought her to me two weeks back and pleaded for me to "fix whatever's wrong with her". Rei isn't talkative and refuses to speak to me or any other person properly unless prompted firmly. However, she takes great pleasure in talking to the mirror when presented with one. It is almost like she talks with the mirror itself.

Her family thinks she is out of her mind, and it seems that way. In fact, she is not talking to the mirror, but her own reflection.

She talks to the reflection in a bid to find herself. It is like a self-reflection, where she asks her own self about matters going on around her and tries to find solace in the conversations she has.

The current situation of her family - her mother falling into post-natal depression and going on a rampage each time she visits, and her father shouting at and blaming himself for what is happening - has prompted her to find a companion of her own, and she is her own friend.

She can only comfort herself in such times, and from her conversations with "Chloe", I have deduced that she is confronted by bullies in school, too. She gets into trouble a lot in school simply because she follows what she tells herself to do - or rather, what "Chloe" tells her to do.

Such examples include playing truant whenever she feels like it, talking back to some of the teachers, fighting back whenever confronted by the bullies, and purposefully breaking some minor school rules.

She gets most of her courage from herself.

I have also inferred that she has few friends in school, and that not many are willing to spend time with her to understand her struggles. Her teachers have not noticed this as Rei conceals her feelings and emotions too well.

It pains me to see such a fine, young lady with outstanding potential being faced with so many troubles at home. It is even more sorrowful to witness her turn to herself for help, and in the process, lose her sanity. I hope that through the sessions that I will have with Rei in future, I will be able to bring her back to reality and help her with her struggles.

---

Another piece I submitted for the creative arts programme application.