Green's New Mirror

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own. Or at least it felt like it wasn't. I knew I was staring at myself but I appeared older. My dark hair was not as vibrant, I could see some gray hairs starting to appear around my scalp. Crow's feet were popping up around my eyes as I grinned. 'Where did all the time go?' I thought to myself. The room was dark and dusty with sunlight poking through the curtains. Perhaps this darkness is what was causing my appearance.

I opened the curtains to get more sunlight in. I looked at the small handheld mirror again only to see my features even more clearly than before. What a bummer. I began to feel pity for myself thinking about the words my mother always told me; "Green, you need to stop daydreaming! Before you know it, time will get the best of you!" I realize she wasn't kidding. She would tell me that whenever I took forever doing chores or procrastinating on homework. I wish she understood my trouble instead of making me the problem.

Here I am now as some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. No husband, no kids, no house, really no family or friends at all. It's just me and my lonely little apartment. I am free to daydream, but maybe that is still my downfall. However, I love the freedom of getting up to do whatever I want whenever I want. There's no one yelling at me about what I can and can't be.

My favorite thing to do is to go thrift shopping. There is something mesmerizing to me about finding things people owned that no longer serve them. There's so much stuff in the world, and the use of it changes depending on who owns it. The concept of matter is that it is never really destroyed; even when it is not in use, it is still somehow in use. In fact, I found a mirror today while on the way home from thrift shopping.

As I was driving home, I saw a family with a yard sale sign outside of their house. It looked like they were putting things back inside. I suddenly stopped and pulled up. They stopped and looked at me as I rolled down the window. "Are you all done for the day?" I asked. A young woman looked back at me, saying, "Hey, come on out! We're packing up, but you can take a look around while we're putting things away."

I thanked them as I got out of the car and began looking around. There were old knick-knacks and dolls, some clothing, books, and random newspapers from as old as the 1950s. The family looked relatively young. I was surprised they had such old antique items. I approached the woman and asked her how they acquired all of it. "My grandmother passed away, so we're selling her old things. She really had a lot of stuff, you missed it earlier..." "Oh wow, I'm so sorry to hear that. You all must have been close," I said. "Yes, we were; however, she grew so superstitious when she was on her deathbed, it was hard to talk to her."

I continued looking around, and a lot of stuff I didn't find so appealing. "How about I make you a deal?" Said the woman. "Since you are our last person, and the pickings are slim, I'll let you have whatever you want here for free?" I nodded and continued to look around until I saw a large item towards the back covered by a cloth. "What's that?" I asked. She looked at it and gave a slight eye roll as she sighed a little with apprehension. "That's one of her old mirrors that she used to tell no one to touch, but somehow still kept it and never used it." "Oh, well, could I take a look?"

We walked over to the navy blue covering. She didn't lay her hands on it, but I reached out and touched the velvet cloth, feeling its softness with my fingers. I slid it off slightly to reveal a beautiful golden square-shaped mirror. I felt shocked at its beauty. "You all weren't able to sell it? This has to be worth a lot of money!" "We tried, but nobody wanted it for some reason. If you feel like you would have better luck, then take it. We need to get rid of as much stuff as possible." "Well, say no more!" I said, and we loaded it in the back of my car.

I really do wonder why no one would want this. I gaze upon this and feel a sense of connection. Such a beauty left under wraps, waiting to be discovered by the right person. Sounds like the story of my life. I want to try and sell it myself, but for some reason, I feel like it would be wrong of me to do so. I looked at myself once again, staring intently. In the background, I thought I saw a shadow like fog. It made me jump, but as I looked behind me, nothing was there. "Okay, Green. Don't start getting spooky like that old woman." I said out loud and chuckled to myself.

As the evening approached, I decided to make myself some dinner. I put on some nice tunes and threw some pasta into the pot. I twirled around and pretended I was in a musical. I thought about the last scene of my favorite musical, Chicago, where the two leading characters get together for their final dance. I began to daydream, and suddenly I became like the blonde starlet, dancing all around the stage. All of a sudden, I heard my bedroom door open.... I was immediately shaken out of my mind. "Hello!" I said, feeling a sense of panic. I looked down the dark hallway, and my door was all the way open.

I flipped on the light and began walking down the hall. I poked my head into the bedroom and saw nothing there besides the mirror. The gold was shining with the little bit of light coming from the hall, yet it seemed to have an ominous glow. I turned around to walk back out, but then I heard what sounded like a cheering crowd. When I looked again, I saw myself dressed in glamour. I didn't feel any fear for some reason. I sat down and looked at myself in the mirror, mesmerized by my appearance. The image copied my exact movements.

I felt like I could dive inside the mirror, the more I looked into its eyes. I pressed my hand against it, but I couldn't enter. I then heard the alarm in the kitchen start to beep and smelled something burning. I got up and ran back down the hall.

Later on, as I was going to bed, I looked at myself in the mirror again. The lights were on in my room, and I could see that I was my normal self again. I stared at it for a moment, hoping it would possibly change back. No luck. I felt like I probably imagined the whole thing. I was thinking about having someone examine it to give me a price for it. I knew something of this value had to be worth something.

As I was sleeping, I had a strange dream. There was a woman who was very beautiful, and she was being hunted by men. She seemed like she was wise in the ways of the earth. I saw her running to a secret place in the woods. She went inside a cave and struck fire out of her bare hands. I then knew she was a witch. As she traveled deeper, the men started to get closer. She faced a wooden door and ran inside, locking it behind her. The room was small, like a closet, filled with potion vials, stones, and books. The mirror stood at the very back.

She grabbed a dagger from one of the shelves and ran towards the mirror. The men were now beating down the door. With a look of fear, she slit her throat, and black goop started to pour out and fill the insides of the mirror. Her body was restless on the floor with the dagger still in her hand. As the men finally made their way in, her body had become skeletal, as if it had been there and dead for many years.

This dream frightened me, and I woke up in a cold sweat. As I opened my eyes, I thought I saw a shadowy fog with the floating head of the woman from my dream. It had red eyes and glared at me in disgust. I screamed, and it went away in that same moment. I flipped on the lights. I looked into the mirror again, seeing only my reflection. I checked the time and saw that it was 3:30 A.M. I put the cloth back on the mirror and decided to go back to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning for work, I felt fatigued, and my back was aching. I didn't want to get up. As I got up, I saw that the cloth was removed from the mirror. "I know I put this back on here this morning," I said. I grabbed the cloth again, but as I looked in the mirror, I became shocked. I looked older than I did yesterday! "What!" I said, pulling at my face. I had more wrinkles, and my eyes looked a bit sunken in. 'Maybe it's from the sleep last night,' I thought. I went into the bathroom, and indeed, it looked like I got more wrinkles. I took a shower and looked around for some face cream.

I felt embarrassed to go to work looking like this. I felt like I wanted to cry. As I got out of the bathroom, I noticed my door was all the way open again. I walked into the bedroom, and heard something say in my voice: "You look great!" I jumped. When I looked in the mirror again, I saw myself, but I was years younger. "Wow, I do look great!" I said. I touched my hair. It was dark and shiny, and I had no wrinkles. I was in such great shape! "Trust me," I heard the image say in my voice, "You look great."

I then felt confident to go to work. I hadn't felt like this in years! As I walked by my coworkers, they gave me odd looks. I didn't care, though. I went to my desk and sat down. I heard murmurs from them asking each other if I was okay. My boss even came in and asked if I was doing okay. To which I replied, "I've never been better!"

I came home feeling empowered, like I could do anything I wanted to do. My door was open again, however. I could hear what sounded like the clanking of glasses and partying. I saw myself in the mirror as my younger version, and I was wearing an emerald green dress. "Welcome home, darling!" I heard her say. I sat down and looked at myself, and could see a background of partygoers. "They're all here for you!" I smiled and felt joy in my heart. "They're here for me?" I said. "Yes, you, my love," She said.

I put my hand against the glass again. I felt saddened because I couldn't get through. "Who am I kidding?" I said. "I need to sell this mirror, I feel like I am going crazy!" I got up to use the bathroom, but then her hand reached out and grabbed me. "That is the problem, my dear. You keep wanting to throw this life away, give it to someone else. But it is calling you. We are calling you to join us," she said. "What is this!?" I yelled. I started to feel frightened. As I pulled away, the grip got tighter. My face in the mirror began to twist and contort into a grotesque image, and my eyes became red. "JOIN US," It shouted. The voice was croaky and sounded like a monster. "NO!" I shouted. And then all went dark.

........

"THIS IS THE POLICE! OPEN UP!" The police were banging at the door of apartment 111. An older woman stood with them, looking extremely worried. "MS. EVERFIELD, ARE YOU IN THERE?" There was silence. "GREEN, IT'S YOUR MOTHER, PLEASE OPEN UP, SWEETIE!" Said the older woman. There was still silence. The woman began to cry. "WHOEVER IS IN THERE NEEDS TO OPEN UP AT THE COUNT OF THREE, IF NOT WE ARE BREAKING THE DOOR DOWN!"

"ONE...TWO... THREE!" The police busted open the door. Immediately, a putrid waft of odor filled all of their noses. They gagged and covered their nose with their shirts. "Hello! Ms. Green!? Shouted one of the officers. The house looked well-kept except for the horrible smell coming from the bedroom. As they entered the room, they gasped. Green's mother fell back in anguish, sobbing on the floor.

Green's body was a lifeless skeletal being. All of her skin was gone; she looked as if she had been mummified. Black goop was surrounding her body, and maggots were coming out of her eye sockets. The mirror looked as good as new, with an appearance as if it had been untouched.