The narrator describes a peaceful afternoon spent in an open field, enjoying the sun and solitude while leaning against their truck. Feeling inspired, they take a quick photo of the truck amidst the trees and send it to their husband, sharing a small moment from their day.
The narrator receives a nearly immediate response to their photo, but the reply is unexpected and not what they had hoped for.
The narrator is taken aback by their husband’s message asking about a reflection in the rear window of the truck. Confused and feeling uneasy, the narrator initially dismisses the concern but then decides to investigate the photo further. Upon zooming in, they notice a faint outline of a figure behind them—a man wearing a hat, his face hidden in shadow. This realization sends a wave of anxiety through the narrator.
The narrator’s breath catches as they recognize the hat in the reflection, recalling it belonged to their ex-boyfriend. A chilling realization sets in: they were alone in the field when the photo was taken, yet this figure appears unmistakably in the reflection. Confused and anxious, the narrator attempts to reassure their husband, suggesting it might just be a shadow. However, they can sense their own doubt. The husband’s reply is filled with suspicion, insisting that the reflection doesn’t resemble a shadow but rather looks like the ex-boyfriend.
The narrator feels a knot in their stomach as they realize who their husband is referring to, struggling to grasp the situation. It feels surreal, as if their past has intruded on the peaceful afternoon, leaving them unsettled and questioning everything. They wonder whether their ex-boyfriend could have actually been nearby without them noticing or if it was merely a bizarre coincidence that the reflection looked just like him.
The narrator examines the photo closely, feeling an unsettling familiarity with the figure in the reflection—the way he stands, the hat—making it hard to dismiss the unease. They begin to question the possibility of their ex-boyfriend somehow being present. In a state of distress, the narrator calls their husband to explain that it must be a coincidence, but the tension is thick during the call. When the husband finally responds, his tone is distant and cautious, expressing his doubt about the reflection being just a coincidence.
After the call, the narrator reflects on the photo, which now seems to carry more weight than just a simple snapshot. The faint outline of the man in the background stirs up unresolved feelings from the past. In the following days, the atmosphere between them feels tense and unbalanced, as both the narrator and their husband are haunted by the mysterious figure in the reflection. Despite the narrator’s attempts to reassure her husband that it was nothing and that she had been alone, the trust in their relationship feels compromised. What started as a seemingly innocent moment has transformed into a source of doubt, causing them to question what was once certain and leaving a lingering shadow over their connection.
