The worn spine of tooled leather and faded lettering caught Sandy’s eye. The book looked heavy, and her curiosity confirmed it was when she hooked a finger at the top of the spine to pull it off the shelf. The book fell open in her hands to an inscription written in elegant, flowing calligraphy:
“Whoever possesses this book
shall have exclusive control
of all reflective powers that flow forth
when called upon in good stead by the righteous.”
The descriptive phrase of ‘Life Changing Book’ took on a very intimate connection with Sandy the second she read and reread the inscription several more times. Her mind churned with instinctive thoughts like this might not end well despite curiosity pushing ahead in an attempt to understand, reflective powers flowing?…good stead by the righteous? Who’s righteous? What the hell does even that mean? Maybe this book is not a good choice. Geez, and I’m standing here holding the damn thing. Does that mean I’m in possession? Hah! Do I want possession of this damn book?
None of her thoughts yielded an answer as Sandy slowly closed the book and dusted off the cover to read the faded words, Mirror Mirror. At that moment, a soft click released the entire section of the bookshelf to partially swing open. Curiosity still engaged, Sandy pushed open the shelf, turned on the light on her cell, and saw the room was empty except for a single wingback chair facing a large oval dressing mirror framed with intricately carved wood.
With a tightening grip on the book, she wondered, Did the book do this?
Sandy Tillman stood unmoving and opened the book to reread the inscription and flip through a few pages. The whole book was written in an elegant longhand. Curiosity ruled, and her fascination grew, but something else in her gut increased, too, and told her, with some urgency, to drop “Mirror Mirror” and run.
She did neither…and unknowingly chose a path that would change her life in a bizarre chain of events well beyond the limits of her three-dimensional world.
Author Note: You will have no reflective powers after reading this tale, but it will be one heck of a ride. Please enjoy and feel free to share…and if you like it…tell somebody! Peace!
“Mirror Mirror” – Free Download – https://bit.ly/4izzxpF
Gary G. Wise
gdogwise@live.com