Broken Mirror

Looks have always been everything for Karen. She preened herself for hours each day looking into her handy mirror, making sure every strand of hair was in place. But Fate took a vicious turn one day as she clumsily knocked her mirror off the dresser shattering it into bits and pieces.

First horrified by the accident she then began to feel a strange sensation. Suddenly, she wasn’t looking at herself like she usually does – she was looking through herself. When she tried to touch the broken glass her hand went right through it as if it wasn’t there.

Shocked, she ran to the bathroom mirror and her fear turned into horror as all she saw was the reflection of the rest of the room. It seemed like she was standing outside looking in.

"What's going on?" Karen whispered to herself.

"Who are you talking to?" Her roommate, Sarah, asked as she walked into the bathroom.

Karen jumped at the sound of Sarah's voice. "Oh my god, you can't see me!"

"What are you talking about? I can see you just fine." Sarah replied, giving her a strange look.

"But...I'm invisible!" Karen exclaimed, waving her hands in front of her face.

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Karen, what are you on?"

"I'm serious, look!" Karen grabbed Sarah's arm and dragged her in front of the mirror.

Sarah looked in the mirror, then back at Karen. "Oh my god, Karen, where are you?"

"I know!" Karen said, relieved that someone finally believed her.

Sarah thought for a moment. "Maybe it's just that mirror. Let's try the one in the living room."

The two women rushed out of the bathroom and into the living room, where they found another mirror hanging on the wall. Karen walked up to it and, sure enough, she was invisible.

"What am I going to do?" Karen asked, starting to panic again.

Sarah put a comforting arm around her. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out."

As they sat on the couch, brainstorming ideas, Karen couldn't help but feel like a ghost haunting her own home. Suddenly, she had an idea.

"What if I become a superhero? I could use my powers for good!"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Karen, you're not a superhero. You're invisible in mirrors, that's it."

"But think about it! I could sneak up on bad guys and catch them off guard. They'd never know what hit them!"

Sarah shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. You're not exactly Batman."

Karen pouted. "Well, what am I supposed to do? Just stay invisible forever?"

Sarah thought for a moment. "Maybe there's a way to reverse the curse. We could do some research and see if there's a spell or something."

Karen brightened at the idea. "That's a great idea! Let's go to the library."

As they walked to the library, Karen couldn't help but feel a little ridiculous. Here she was, a grown woman, invisible in mirrors and searching for a way to reverse the curse.

They spent hours poring over dusty old books, looking for any information they could find. Finally, they came across a passage that seemed promising.

"To reverse the curse of the broken mirror, one must gather the pieces of the shattered glass and make a potion using the following ingredients: a pinch of salt, a sprig of rosemary, and a drop of blood from the one who broke the mirror."

Karen's eyes widened. "I have to drink my own blood?"

Sarah shrugged. "It's either that or stay invisible forever."

They quickly gathered the ingredients and headed back to Karen's apartment. Karen hesitated at the thought of having to drink her own blood, but she knew it was the only way to break the curse. She carefully gathered the pieces of the broken mirror and crushed them into a fine powder, adding the other ingredients as instructed.

Sarah looked at the mixture skeptically. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

Karen shrugged. "It's worth a try."

She closed her eyes and drank the potion in one gulp. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, she felt a strange tingling sensation all over her body.

When she opened her eyes, she could see her reflection in the living room mirror once again. She let out a whoop of joy and hugged Sarah.

"I'm back!" she exclaimed.

Sarah smiled. "I'm glad everything worked out."

Karen looked at herself in the mirror, noticing for the first time how much she had been focusing on her external appearance. She turned to Sarah with a new sense of clarity.

"You know what? I think I learned something from this experience. Beauty isn't just about what you see on the outside. It's about who you are on the inside too."

Sarah grinned. "I'm glad you finally figured that out."

Karen couldn't help but laugh at herself. "I can't believe I thought I was going to become a superhero."

Sarah chuckled. "Well, you're still a hero in my book."

The two friends hugged, happy to have found a solution to the bizarre situation. From that day on, Karen still took care of her appearance but with a newfound appreciation for the importance of inner beauty.

As for the broken mirror, it was replaced with a new one, which Karen made sure to handle with extra care.

"Lesson learned," she thought to herself with a smile.