Creative Short Story
Doppelgänger
Sienna Muthra
She had seen it from the corner of her eye behind the white translucent curtains of their apartment; the shadow figure walked along the balcony and disappeared when suddenly Laurena went outside to see who it was, but when she opened the sliding door, there was nothing there.
It wasn’t the first time it happened; this had been happening for quite a long time now, and she had just ignored it, probably her overactive imagination again.
Elisa’s body felt heavy, her heart thumping swiftly, and she woke up in a sweat; she frantically looked around, running into her daughter's room, seeing that she was still asleep.
She couldn't lose another person; she had already lost her husband, cat, and grandmother around the same time.
She walked into the room and up to her daughter's bed. She bent down to kiss her daughter's forehead as she awoke, opening her eyes to the light of day and her mother's face.
“Wake up, sleepyhead; you've been sleeping all day, and I had the most terrifying dream.
“What was it about, Kelvin?”
“It was about you.”
“it's probably nothing; don't worry about it.”
Elisa then left Laurena’s room to go back into her own.
As Laurena slowly drifted asleep again, Laurena heard a voice soft, distant and distorted.
Eventually falling into a deep sleep, she started to feel something touching her; she felt exposed to the cool air, and the earthy smell of the forest surrounded her. She awoke to a dense, foggy forest without any sound. Laurena got up, looking around. The forest didn’t end, and her cheeks were red due to the cold weather; it felt like winter, though no snow was in sight.
She went deeper into the forest like something was pulling her toward it. Eventually, she realized that she had been walking for quite a while. The forest was empty, and a sense of dread overcame her; usually, she had incredible stamina, but this forest just made her more and more exhausted.
Laurena started to hear her voice off in the distance; it was abandoned, so she began walking in the opposite direction away from the voice, but it was persistent no matter which way she walked.
She stood motionless and looked around until she saw someone who took her appearance off in the distance. It could see her, but it didn’t move. Laurena had to get out of there as fast as she could no matter what it took. Her doppelgänger laughed with a knife in her hand; she had never been so afraid of her appearance. Usually, she feared heights, but never someone who looked exactly like her. “Laurena, why are you so scared? I only want to replace you; it isn’t that bad, right?” the doppelgänger’s voice was exactly like Laurena’s soft voice.
She had to be in a dream or hallucinating; this couldn’t be real. Laurena backed away slowly, trying to be quiet in the forest as she turned around; with a rush of adrenaline coming over her, she ran as fast as she could with the figure behind her; she couldn’t die; she had to take care of her mother, whom she loved so much. As the forest previously made her exhausted, she couldn’t run anymore. Laurena knew she couldn’t escape and began to slow down, thinking that maybe she could outrun her Doppelgänger; she tried a different path, but the figure was always three steps ahead of her, knowing every move she made.
Why had this happened to her? What had she done wrong in her life to deserve this?
As these thoughts ran through her mind. The knife plunged into her back, many times repeatedly. The blood spilled from her back, mouth and eyes. Her life was slowly slipping away, and her mind became hazy; she could no longer hold on to her life, and her eyes started to lose their light. Laurena’s body fell to the ground as her copy stood above her body, the knife stained in blood. A smile came over the copy’s face. “Finally, I got you.”
Her doppelgänger had been following Laurena for years without her knowledge; when she saw Laurena with her mother, she immediately knew she wanted to replace her by killing her.
For years and years, she tried but could never get her. No, it had to be at the perfect time when Laurena thought she could have a chance at a better life with money, success and happiness. Her doppelgänger wanted it to hurt so much. Jealousy is a fickle thing, especially when it causes someone to harm another person. Laurena had this once before; her cousin, who had once lived with them, claimed to be innocent, but both Laurena and Elisa started getting bad luck. First came the deaths of her stepfather, then their cat, and then her grandmother. Money was always an issue, but now was an even bigger issue; it was all gone every single penny, causing her and her mom to starve, having to rely on her mother’s taxes that came later that month. As Laurena lay on the forest ground, the dead body in her room was being taken away, ensuring her mom wasn’t awake to see her daughter dead. Laurena’s body was taken away and replaced with her counterpart’s body. “Now we can be together, mother,” she laughed deviously. She stood over Elisa, who slept there calmly.
The End
Creative Heroes
I personally love the way MonkeyPaw Productions website looks because I think it represents that Jordan Peele is very much into horror although his website is very subtle it gives a sense of what his work is all about.
Jordan Peele’s company website MonkeyPaw Productions uses black and white mainly due to the nature of his films being of the horror genre.
MonkeyPaw Productions has a logo which is a monkey’s disembodied hand with a teaspoon which stirs the tea in the teacup. The stirring of the teacup is a reference to Jordan Peele’s first movie Get Out in which the stirring represents the hypnotism and mind control technique.
I think MonkeyPaw Productions website only carries to carries to their Instagram well maybe work on Twitter a little bit more.
MonkeyPaw Productions always has the stirring of the teacup in the beginning of every trailer and movie for Jordan Peele’s films.
Jordan Peele is more relaxed and comedic but at times can be serious when speaking on issues that are very important. I think the reason for this is because he comes from a comedic background.
Jordan Peele has a variety of photos more composed and a little bit more laid back.
Jordan Peele’s fashion sense speaks a lot to how he portrays himself the casual and comfortable clothing he wears.
The geekiness he shows in his passion for classic horror films, he is what I would call a blerd which is term that means black nerd. Jordan Peele’s branding is of himself so if you are watching one of his films it is also like watching him show you a different part of himself.
I think his branding also shows that he can be successful outside of one genre and do the unexpected even though his name is not a household name like Steven Spielberg.
I also think his branding is successful because of the way his work gets the audience to think about things in society and ask themselves questions.
If I became a horror screenwriter, I would probably make my website a little less subtle as in terms of horror I personally think Peele does this because it makes it easier to read and is a bit more professional.
Websites and social media
I wrote a Creative Short Story about a young woman going through depression and anxiety who is followed by a doppelgänger. I also have my Creative heroes assignment.
