Mary Jane had just turned 24, she was a single mom and had two sons, a 3 year old and a 5 year old. She was currently working as an office cleaner at night and going to school during the day. She thought the best thing would be if she could get a degree as an Administrative Assistant. Then maybe she could get a job at a school district and have time off with her children during the Summer and spend time with them as they were growing up. Little did she know at the time her plan would never happen.
Meanwhile in a parallel universe Mary Jane was married, a stay at home mom, with two little boys and a new little one on the way. She was beaming with joy as any day now she was about to give birth to her very first baby girl. Of course she has had her share of bad days, but at the moment she was beaming with joy at welcoming her new little one.
Both women thought they were truly blessed, however, one had struggled just a bit more financially when it came to raising children. Although they were quite different they both ended up ultimately wanting and needing the same thing.
Mary Jane’s reality was not always grim; however, she did struggle with depression off and on in her life. It didn’t get extremely bad until she was in her late 20s. She found herself one day lying on the ground, she had slipped and fallen down the stairs. She pushed herself to go to work and try to ignore the excruciating pain. After all she had little ones that she had to provide for and could not afford to take off of work.
The years went by and Mary Jane had often thought about what her life would have been like in an Alternate Universe. And that is where we pick back up with married Mary Jane. By now the kids were a bit older, the sleepless nights were finally coming to an end at last. Soon to fade away like a bad nightmare. Mary Jane had just finished doing the laundry and had gotten the youngest one down for a nap. There was a knock at the door. She went to go see who it was and there standing on her front porch was a Gorilla. She had received a singing Gorilla Gram and the Gorilla handed her a video tape. She popped the tape in the VCR and she saw her husband lying down in bed. She thought to herself how odd. The next thing you know an unknown woman enters the room. Her whole world soon came crashing down.
So as I said before both women thought they were truly blessed. Although they were quite different they both ended up ultimately wanting and needing the same thing. Mary Jane’s world began to fall apart. She thought she was going crazy, she walked over to the mirror that was hanging in the corridor. With tears streaming down her face from both eyes she desperately asked herself, “Why? Why would he do this to me, the mother of his children?” Suddenly Mary Jane was sucked into the mirror!
At the same time in the parallel universe Mary Jane had thought she found a little bit of happiness when she signed on that dotted line and bought her first home. She was so proud of herself. A single mom living check to check, moving her family every year to a new place, but now finally she had found somewhere that they could call their home. She had gone back to further her education and was trying her best to raise her two children, go to school, and work to provide for her little family. And then one day out of the blue things began to unravel. Mary Jane’s world began to fall apart; she thought she was going crazy. She too found herself staring into the mirror of her home's tiny bathroom, tears streaming from both of her eyes down her face as she hung her head and cried. She cried out loud “Why, Why did this have to happen to me?” Suddenly she too was sucked into the mirror!
The day came when Mary Jane was face to face with her alter self. Both women standing there stunned looking into the tear filled eyes of a woman that looked just like her looking back at her. It was if she was still standing there looking into the same mirror that just pulled her from reality.
They began to see from each other’s perspectives, feel each other’s emotions, relive each other’s memories. They saw each other's struggles, joys, dreams, and nightmares.
They just stood there in silence looking at each other, and then it happened. They felt each other’s pain so deeply, they could not hold themselves back from reaching out to one another to offer an embrace filled with warmth, love, and a shared understanding of each other’s story and the paths that they took that led them there.
The hug sent out a ripple effect… it shattered every glass insight except for the one mirror they found themselves standing in front of. It was the mirror, the same portal, that had snatched them up and brought them here to the place of the oracle. They took a seat beside each other still holding hands and looked at the oracle for her words of wisdom.
They had learned from that one rare and special moment that their world may have been falling apart around them, but that did not mean it had to end that way. This was a chance to start over in life no matter what the current circumstances might have been. A chance to change the way their life had become. A chance to find the things in life they had been searching for this whole time.
Peace, Love, Happiness in a world full of chaos, hurt, anger, and selfishness. The world seemed bleak, not a place either Mary Jane wanted to return to, but a world none the less they knew they had to re-enter. If not for themselves, for the children they had left behind. So they continued to listen to the wise words of wisdom coming from the oracle in hopes to take this back home with them.
They had both come to realize in the end the life they were searching for needed to come from within. They needed to set boundaries, embrace self-care, search their inner soul, strengthen their faith, and just live, laugh, and love their life more. Once this lesson had sunk in, they both were immediately transported back into their world.
From time to time they both had wondered what they had done in this life to deserve a special rare moment to sit with each other and the oracle to learn about what they both needed to heal, and how to find the strength to start over. Over the years, Mary Jane often found herself standing in front of the mirror and smiling to herself.
About the Creator
J.W. Baird
Who Am I?
I keep asking myself. I spent half of my life as a single mother. Pushing myself to be the strong independent individual that I have always been. My kids have grown and my life seems turned upside down.
I now search to find myself!
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By Peter Rose5 days ago in Fiction
Comments (1)
This was a great story!