The Mirror of Smoke: Snow White’s Final Reflection

After the queen’s death, the mirror was sealed in the royal vault. Snow White ruled wisely, aging gracefully, until her eyes grew clouded and her hair silver.

On her deathbed, she asked to see the mirror one last time.

The servants brought it.

When she looked, she didn’t see herself. She saw her stepmother — younger, laughing, holding an apple.

Then the glass darkened, and her reflection spoke:

“Fairness doesn’t fade, dear. It transfers.”

When she died, her body turned cold before the fire even dimmed. But the mirror warmed, mist spreading across the glass like breath.

A century later, when historians tried to clean it, the silver backing peeled away, revealing another layer beneath — skin-like, veined faintly, pulsing.

The curator’s report ended abruptly. His last note scrawled in the margin read:

“She’s still asking who’s fairest.”