The Mirror

Amy and Eric ran into the old, run-down barn. They had been told repeatedly not to play in it as their granddad was afraid it might collapse on top of them. But as young explorers, they were determined to roam around the barn looking for old treasures. Their grandmother had always hidden things for them around the farm for them to track down, but after she died, they hoped to see if they could find the very last treasurer she had hidden. It had to be in the barn. Where else could she have hidden it? They had looked everywhere already.

Amy and Eric were twins, and they had just turned twelve years old. Their parents were both archaeologists working far away on excavating ancient treasures. Amy and Eric wanted to be just like their parents. Next year, they had been told they would be allowed to go with them, but they had to stay with their granddad on the farm this year. Granddad had promised that if they helped with the animals, they would be allowed to earn some pocket money they could use on their big trip next summer. Amy and Eric had been ecstatic. They knew that archaeological equipment wasn’t cheap, and oh, how amazing it would be to have their OWN trowel to dig with.

“Amy?” “yes, Eric?” “Come here. I think I found something.” Amy came running over. “What is it?” Eric had found what appeared to be a trapdoor in the floor in the back corner of the old barn. How had they not seen this before? Why was it suddenly exposed? Anyways, it didn’t matter. Obviously, they had to open it. Amy looked at Eric with hopeful eyes. They both nodded at each other and grabbed the rusty handle – and PUUULLED… Ayyyy they fell backward, and a massive cloud of dust came charging at them. Amy quickly turned her back and got between the door and her brother, shielding him from the dust. They both coughed a bit, wiped off their faces, and walked over to a narrow stone staircase spiraling down.

“Eric, you think grandma hid something down there?” Eric grabbed a small pebble lying on the floor next to him and carefully threw it down the staircase. It went bouncing down, and down and … it kept going. How long was this staircase, they both wondered while listening carefully? And then the sound was gone. It had to be deep?

Suddenly granddad was calling them, and they quickly put the door back over the entrance, ran out the back of the barn, and proceeded towards the house, pretending they had not been in the barn. Granddad just looked at them suspiciously, as they were unusually quiet and well-behaved as they came into the house. Granddad asked: “what have you two been up to today? Did you feed the chickens and the milked the cows?” “yes, granddad,” Amy replied… while Eric had gone to the bathroom to wash off. “Off you go, Amy, you look awfully dusty, clean up, then it is time for dinner,” granddad said with a smile.

Both Eric and Amy came back, much cleaner than before, and sat down at the table. They all three talked about what their mom and dad might be up today where they were. Granddad’s dad had also been an archaeologist, and granddad had traveled a great deal as a child before he decided it wasn’t for him and had met a nice countrywoman and settled down far away from all the hustle and bustle of the big city. After dinner, Eric and Amy went to their rooms. They knew it was too late to explore more tonight, but first thing tomorrow, after they had fed the chickens and milked the cows, they would definitely go straight back, and this time they would bring flashlights to check out the staircase. They fell asleep, and both had strange dreams about their grandmother talking to them.

When they both woke up, they shared their dreams. They were stunned to learn that they had both had the exact same dream. What had their grandmother tried to tell them? Something about a mirror. It made no sense.. anyways… chores… then exploring.

After lunch, they both half-ran and half-walked to get to the barn without making granddad suspicious. Luckily he was heading into town and would not be back for several hours. Eric opened the trapdoor. This time it opened smoothly. How odd. Anyways, they both turned on their flashlights, and Amy looked at Eric as she took the first step down the steps. He followed right behind her. Amy counted the steps as she walked. 43 steps, it really was far! Then they finally reached the bottom of what appeared to be an old stone cave. Did their grandparents know about this, they wondered…

Amy and Eric came to a dead end, where it seemed they could continue no further. They flashed the light around, but there was nothing. No, wait, the light from Eric’s flashlight was reflected on the wall. It was a mirror? Huh… they both stepped over to the mirror, but it was strange, they did not see their own reflections – so, where had the light come from if it wasn’t from Eric’s flashlight… they peaked around in the mirror, it was like another dimension, but it was large and black. Amy said, “oh, I wish mom and dad were here. They would know exactly what to do.”

Suddenly the mirror flashed a light – as rings in water, a vision of their mom and dad at the archaeological site appeared in front of them. They were busy excavating... Amy and Eric called out to them, but they did not react. They couldn’t hear them. What was this device? What was going on? Was it old footage of them in the field? But, it couldn’t be, dad was wearing the hat they had given him for Christmas…

The light disappeared, and the mirror was once again oddly hollow and black. Eric said, “do you think grandmother knew about this?” Amy looked at him, “the dream,” she exclaimed… “this is the mirror she was trying to tell us about. Yes, she definitely knew and maybe hoped we would find it.” Eric sighed as he said, “I wish she was here now to tell us about this mirror.” Slowly the lights flickered in the mirror… and an image of their grandmother appeared. Amy and Eric couldn’t believe their own eyes. But how… they took a step closer and put their hands up to touch it when grandma giggled out loud.

Amy and Eric jumped so high they nearly fell over each other. “So, you finally found the last treasure I left you. What took you so long? I have been waiting for you. Now, the real treasure hunt can begin,” grandma said from the mirror. Amy and Eric returned to the mirror the jointly said, “grandma – it is really you?” Grandma smiled again, “come, we have much planning to do,” she responded as she stretched out her hands, and Amy and Eric each held one and went into the mirror with her.