Life as a mimic was simple. That witch’s curse was nowhere as bad as I thought it would be.

I simply eat, and then sleep. Wake up after a little while, and then go back to sleep after eating. As long as I didn't move around too much, my appetite was actually quite small. That’s why she never noticed me.

Until now.

Alice was my human. She moved into this apartment suite alone three years ago. The previous owners left some of their furniture behind and when Alice moved in, she kept them. Including me. Between my naps, I watched the world change around me as Alice added her own touches to her house, changing out wallpapers and putting up decorations. She threw out some of the old furniture too and replaced them with new ones. I always wonder when it would be my turn, but it hasn’t happened yet. The thought of it happening one day made me sad.

And watching her, I feel some of my old self that had faded over the centuries of sleep returning to me. Something inside me changed, and...

Alice was my human, and I wanted to protect her.

 

♡♡♡

 

It was a dark night. Alice had just come home from work, dressed in a suit and skirt. When the door opened, frosty wind blasted in, chasing away the warmth and rousing me from my sleep. Out of habit, I reached out with my senses.

Even from all the way in the living room, I could smell the alcohol on her. She had been out drinking again. My life as a human was a long time ago, but even I knew that it wasn’t safe for a woman to be out drinking alone. Nothing’s happened yet, but what if she didn’t come back one day?

I watched as Alice tossed her bag and keys on the table and then staggered into the kitchen. With Alice gone, I withdrew, but before I could fall asleep again, Alice returned, muttering complaints under her breath.

A light in the kitchen had gone out.

After rummaging in a closet, Alice came back with a new lightbulb, and as she passed, she grabbed me. My current form was a heavy wooden chair, nice and sturdy— the perfect step stool.

She placed me under the burnt out light and climbed up, reaching for the light... only to come up short.

“Damn it... why is it so high up?” she grumbled. Her words were a little bit slurred and she was unsteady on her feet. She wobbled a little, which was worrying. Perhaps the light could wait until tomorrow when she was a bit more sober?

That was the logical thing to do, but Alice didn’t give up.

It was her stubbornness rearing its head again. Having lived with Alice for three years, I knew how persistent she could be. Once she set her sights on something, she rarely ever gave up. All nighters to get something done wasn’t rare for her, and now she was dead set on changing that light.

As Alice reached higher and higher, the stockings covering her toes caused her to slip a bit. With a thought, I made my surface a tiny bit rougher, but even with that, Alice still wasn’t able to reach.

At this rate, she was going to fall long before that light bulb got changed, but Alice was probably too drunk to notice.

I couldn’t help but fret. Unlike those little cuts or burns she suffered while cooking, a fall from this height was much more dangerous. She might hit her head. The lightbulb in her hand might shatter. Unease rose inside of me as I watched, a bit conflicted.

What should I do if she falls?

Well, Alice wasn’t my first owner, nor will she be my last, but on the other hand—

As my mind wandered, it happened. Despite my efforts earlier, Alice reached just a bit too high, and woozy from her drinking, she lost her balance and slipped. Without a sound, too drunk to even realize what was happening, she tipped over. Her head fell faster than her body.

My body moved before my thoughts. My body exploded outwards, transforming from a chair into a shapeless mass of writhing flesh that spread across the floor like a carpet in an instant.

The mass surged upwards, catching Alice before she could hit the ground.

W-what am I doing?!

As my mind wrenched back control of my body, I quickly dumped Alice unceremoniously on the floor and turned back into a chair.

D-did she see me...?

I stared nervously at Alice. She was laying on the ground, staring up at the ceiling with her eyes wide open in shock. Confusion clouded her eyes.

Maybe not. The kitchen had been pretty dark.

In all my years as a mimic, I’ve only been caught twice. I had no idea what to do if someone realized what I was. My previous solutions had been to eat them, but my previous victims had been strangers, not someone I knew, let alone lived alongside for years. Could I even stomach eating Alice?

After a long time, Alice finally moved. Groaning as she held the little bump on her head from when I dropped her, she struggled to her feet and staggered out of the dark kitchen. I heard the bedroom door open and close.

I’ll wait and see...

Silence descended again, and with nothing else to do, I decided to just rest until morning. The light was still on in the living room, which I wasn’t used to, but I managed. Eventually, I drifted off to sleep.

 

The creak of the bedroom door woke me up. I reached out.

The bathroom door slammed shut, followed by the hiss of running water. When Alice came out again, she was wearing her day-off attire that consisted solely of a long sleeved shirt and pants made out of wool.

With bold strides, she entered the kitchen and stood in front of me, hands on her waist. Her eyes pierced right through me, freezing my nonexistent heart.

I’m exposed, aren’t I? I’m definitely exposed. What should I do? What should I do?

When I didn’t move, Alice sighed and her gaze softened.

“You can hear me, can’t you? Thank you for what you did yesterday. Without you, I would’ve gotten seriously hurt.”

She knew! I hoped that she’d be too drunk to remember, but that was too much to ask. My mind flew, trying to find a way out that didn’t involve eating her. That was the one option I refused to consider. But as active as my mind was, my body did not budge a single inch.

Perhaps I can convince her that what she saw was just a hallucination.

“You know, I noticed that sometimes, the leftover food would mysteriously disappear overnight. At first, I thought I was imagining things, but then I thought...why would I leave an empty plate on the table instead of putting it in the sink to wash?

“Not to mention, messes that I leave would sometimes be mysteriously cleaned up. I remember because I always dread taking care of them.

“You were the one responsible for this all long, right?”

I said nothing. There was too much proof against me.

But I can’t really be blamed for being careless! Alice was my first human to live alone. When there were two or more humans, they simply thought that someone else cleaned the mess or ate the food.

And after Alice moved in, I didn’t know I had to change my habits, and I gave myself away.

She didn’t seem deterred  by my lack of response. “Maybe you just don’t understand me. That’s fine. But you’ve lived here for at least two years, or maybe even more, and you even saved me last night, so I don’t really mind if you stay. Thank you.”

And then she did an incredible thing. She hugged a chair. I could hear and feel her heart thumping as she pressed against me. There wasn’t a hint of hesitation and she did it as natural as could be, without any awkwardness. That was enough to prove that she was sincere in her belief.

My brain almost shut off. How long has it been since I was last hugged? Decades? No, it must have been centuries. It’d been centuries since I was turned into a mimic, and since then, I’ve never been hugged.

After a long hug, Alice stood up. She got a proper step stool from the closet and changed the burnt out light bulb, and under the bright light of the new bulb, she cleaned up the shattered remains of the bulb she dropped when she fell.

Meanwhile, I was still in shock.

This whole time, she knew I existed.

Come to think of it, about two years ago, she flipped the whole suite upside down looking for something. Was she looking for me then? Not to mention, in hindsight, the portions of meat she cooked got bigger and bigger, even though she couldn’t possibly finish it all...

Even though something unknown was living here with her and eating her food, she didn’t freak out. As far as things went, revealing my true form wouldn’t even be something new to her. It’d simply be giving form to something she already knew existed.

After a brief moment of hesitation, as Alice had begun making breakfast, I decided to just make a leap of faith. Slowly, my form stirred and rippled before breaking apart. The rich brown color of wood faded and I turned into a pale red mass of flesh that spread onto the floor, kind of like the dough that Alice made last week for cookies.

When Alice turned around to check on me, she didn’t seem surprised.

“Do you like bacon and eggs?”

It’s been a long time since I spoke, but I managed. Vocal cords formed inside me, and a raspy and barely intelligible voice forced its way out of my body.

Before long, an egg was sizzling in the pan on top of two slices of bacon, and the smell of breakfast filled the air.

Alice made two plates, one for me, and one for her, and placed them on the table. Then she gathered my soft body up as best as she could and placed it on a chair. That was how my life with Alice began.

 

♡♡♡

 

About a week after I came out to Alice, we went to the park together. After she found out that I could turn into living things too, she had me turn into a small cat and took me out. Only then did I realize how much I missed the outside world. It’s been too long since I was anything but furniture, and the form of a cat was unfamiliar to me. For a while, I tripped over my own feet, embarrassing myself, but Alice just laughed and hugged me.

She thought I was cute. Her laugh was beautiful.

Although it was winter, it wasn’t cold. The sun warmed me up, and I explored while Alice read a book on a bench. We didn’t head back until the sun was almost down. From then on, going to the park became a regular thing.

Of course, since I was moving around more, my appetite increased as well, but Alice didn’t mind at all. She just bought more food.

 

♡♡♡

 

Today, Alice took me shopping. I turned into a small kitten and she carried me around in her purse. As always, she turned heads wherever she went, and I couldn’t help but glare back at whoever had their gaze linger for too long. Alice was my human!

When we stopped for lunch, a woman approached us.

She introduced herself as Chloe and struck up a short conversation with Alice’s necklace, and in the end, she asked for Alice’s number.

...I never wanted to eat someone so much. How dare she?

When that woman left with Alice’s number, I felt sickened, and I ended up in such a bad mood that I barely tasted the cake I swallowed whole.

After lunch, we continued wandering through the mall, and we eventually found ourselves in the fitting room of a clothing store. Alice wore a cashmere coat, posing in front of me with a bright smile on her face.

“How do I look, Mira?”

“I... like it,” I replied honestly, stumbling over my words. “You look pretty.”

Alice glowed at my compliment, but honestly, I don’t know what she expected. My response was as predictable as clockwork. Alice looked good in everything but the worst looking clothes.

“I’ll get it then. What about you? Don’t you want anything?”

I shook my head. What could a mimic want? Ever since I became one, my whole life was eating and sleeping, and now, Alice. I had all three, so I am content. But then I thought about that woman who came over to us during lunch, and my whole body shivered.

“How about this then?”

As Alice put on another combination and turned to let me see her from all directions, she noticed that I wasn't as enthusiastic as before.

“Is something wrong?”

How did she know?

“Are you tired?” She looked at her watch and gasped. “Wow, it really is quite late. Sorry, Mira, I didn’t think about you at all.”

...that wasn’t it.

The face of the woman lingered on my mind the whole drive home. Compared to me, she was a part of a whole other world—the same world that Alice was part of. She gave off the same feel as Alice did—confident, bright, outgoing. I couldn’t be more different. I wasn’t even human anymore.

But I still wanted Alice to be mine. Even if I wasn’t successful the same way that woman was, I could still be useful in other ways!

When the door slammed shut behind us, I jumped out Alice’s purse.

The fluffy hair on my body melted back into my skin and I grew taller and taller with each step I took until I was as tall as Alice was. I caught my reflection as I passed by the microwave, and I saw another Alice staring back.

I headed straight for the kitchen.

After walking for so long, Alice is surely tired. Then, for me to be useful, I should prepare the meal. I’ve watched her do it many times, so...

Chop. A finger fell off, severed by the knife that Alice kept razor sharp. Without a word, I reabsorbed it back into my body.

A bowl fell, only saved when my leg morphed and caught it before it could hit the ground. I ended up eating the beaten eggs that spilled out.

And then—

A pair of arms looped around me, holding me tight, and I smelled Alice right behind me. My frantic movements slowed and stopped entirely.

“Mira, can you tell me what’s wrong? Clearly something is bothering you.”

“...”

How could I tell her? How can I tell her that I wanted her to be mine alone? Not as prey. As something else. Something I haven't thought about for centuries, and sleep had almost wiped the very concept of it away. But when I met Alice and watched her for three years, it came back, bit by bit.

With a gentle touch, Alice turned me around until we were face to face. I could see myself reflected in her eyes, but the face I wore was not mine. It was hers.

“I just want to be...useful...” I muttered, trying to get the words out.

“Useful?” This time, Alice looked confused. “Why do you want to be useful?”

Just as I was about to answer, understanding dawned in her eyes, and she quickly shook her head. “I don’t need you to be useful, Mira. I just want you to be you. You don’t have to change for me. There’s nothing I lack except you, Mira.”

She paused, and hugged me tighter. “Just being around you makes me happy. Don’t force yourself to be something you’re not. What I want in my life is you.”

Alice wanted me?

I looked past her, at the microwave behind her. I saw my face again. It was Alice’s face. I liked it, but it wasn’t mine. What was I then?

A mimic. A mimic had no identity. It simply copied other things.

But I wasn’t a normal mimic. Before I was turned into one by a witch, I had my own identity. What was it? I’d forgotten it along with a lot of other things in my sleep, but spending time with Alice helped me find it back.

A shock rushed through my head and my body softened, melting back into a puddle on the ground. I couldn’t control my body, not that I could control my mind either. Images rushed through my mind, faster and faster, until I saw a figure standing in the darkness.

Me.

My mind cleared. I looked up, seeing the look of horror and concern in Alice’s face, and my heart churned. Don’t look like that...

My body... Bit by bit, I regained control. Slowly, the spread of flesh stopped and began to draw back together, bit by bit, into a lump that grew taller and taller. Slowly, the features on the lump became more defined, until a face was visible. Hair fell around the face, and flesh hardened into muscle.

When my body finally stopped contorting, a woman stood in front of Alice.

This woman was unique. There was no one else in the world like her, and there was nothing she cared about but Alice. Her mouth moved, speaking in her very own voice, and Alice replied.

“I love you too.”