YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif.: the National Park Service has posted new signs at Mirror Lake asking visitors to stop jumping in to reach the mirror dimension, which rangers say does exist but is not set up for walk-ins.
According to legend, anyone who goes in on a still spring morning, when the reflection is perfect, surfaces in an upside-down Yosemite and is made to reflect on their life. People who say they have made the trip describe it as less profound than advertised. One woman spent what felt like several hours being shown every group chat she had ever muted. A man from Modesto said it was mostly about his posture.
Everyone comes back reversed. A hiker from Fresno has been left-handed since May and now parts her hair on the other side. She says her husband has not noticed either change, which she has also had to reflect on.
The window is closing. Mirror Lake is slowly filling with sediment and turning into a meadow, and by late summer it is often little more than a puddle. Rangers estimate the dimension has a few decades left and say anyone who has been putting off reflecting on their life should probably not put it off much longer.
There is also the matter of the figure on the rock. A person in a purple jacket, standing on a boulder near the shore with one arm raised, appears in far more visitor photos than one person could reasonably be present for. Rangers believe she is on the other side. Nobody can tell whether she is waving for help or just being friendly, and the new signs ask visitors not to wave back.
FTN BULLETIN: This report is fiction.