Welcome to my short story collection

I'm a writer of dark fiction. This blog is exclusively for my short stories and experimental short works. To view my books and other info, visit my main blog at http://sallybosco.com. I'm interested in your feedback on these stories, so please leave a comment or email me at sallybosco@mac.com. Thanks!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

The Double


This is a story I wrote several years ago based on a train ride I took to Montreal with my friend. It illustrates the theme of my odd obsession with doppelgangers.


It was a bleak train ride to Montreal. I sat by myself in an orange plastic booth of the club car drinking black coffee and smoking a Gauloise. The darkness of the midnight landscape caused the image of the garish seats to bounce off the windows. A woman in matching green polyester shirt and pants sang Carpenters' tunes while accompanying herself on a Ronco portable keyboard. Funny thing was, the crowd loved it.

Everything in the car seemed grimy, covered with a film of smoke and grease. The smell of fried foods hung in the air.

A man with an obvious toupee sat down next to me and tried to start a conversation. I replied in monosyllables and continued reading my book. He finally gave up and left.

Then something happened which roused me from my stupor.

A woman who looked exactly like me entered the club car. I'm not speaking of a passing likeness. She had the same jet black hair, cut into an asymmetrical bob, white white skin and dark eyes. Her mannerisms, everything, were exactly the same as mine. She even wore a man's black jacket turned up at the sleeves.

Talking and laughing with a group of women, she took no notice of me.

She snapped her head to flick her hair out of her eyes, a habit I have been trying to stop. I watched in amazement for some minutes, until suddenly our eyes locked. The look on her face was one of recognition.

I continued reading my book but couldn't concentrate. Deciding to retire to my sleeping cabin, I rose and lunged my way to the door, having to fight the movement of the train all the way. As I passed by her group, I took a close look at her. The resemblance was exact.

Bouncing off the walls, I made my way through one car then the next until I arrived at my cabin. No sooner had I closed the door behind me than there was a knock. Somehow I knew it would be her.

It struck a peculiar kind of terror in me because as I child I had read a story about dopplegangers, mysterious doubles. It was not a twin, nothing so normal as that. This was a creature from the nether world come to haunt you. Meeting your doppelganger portended imminent death. For a while when my mother worked, I had the biting fear that I would return to an empty house after school and find myself there.

After sliding the latch, I stood face to face with my childhood horror.

"Hello, I'm Jou Jou." My name was Jou Jou, not a common name. She held out her hand, which I promptly shook. The softness of it startled me.

"I hope you don't mind my bothering you." Her voice possessed a familiar timbre.

"Not at all. Have a seat." We crowded into the minuscule cabin. I felt awkward being squeezed in so closely with this strange woman. Was she strange or was she myself? I closed the door.

Then she said, "I am you, you know. I'm your worst fear. The reason you were afraid to look into mirrors as a child. I'm you're double."

"You're fooling with me, right? You've been drinking and you're playing a joke." I felt my hold on reality slipping away.

"I've been drinking black coffee, and this is no joke."

I scrambled over her to get out, but she grabbed my arm. "No you don't," she said. "You can leave here, but you can't escape me. Don't even try."

As I sat staring her, fascinated by seeing such an exact copy of my face and body, she leaned over and began unbuttoning my blouse.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm going to make love to you."

The fantastic aura of the situation overcame me like an intoxicant. A soft tongue flicked my ear. A smooth hand caressed my shoulder. She finished undressing me and turned out the light. The rhythmic sound of the tracks and the shifting colors of the streetlights added to my entrancement.

Jou Jou removed her shirt and leaned forward to kiss me. A shudder of pleasure swept through me as I felt her full breasts mash up against mine. I undid her pants and she ground up against me.

It was as though a spell was wound around me. She knew me. Knew exactly what I liked. There was a delicious feeling of sin in the air. Sin and synchronicity.

In the morning she was still there. It can't be, I thought. She shouldn't still be here. That body, my body, lay practically on top of me, so close I could smell the stale tobacco in her hair.

She woke, looked at me and began to dress.

"You can't go now," I said. "Can't we be together forever?" I had grown quite fond of her.

"You'll be seeing me, don't worry. I'll turn up from time to time." She pulled on her pants and black jacket. "When you least expect it." She winked at me and walked out the door.