I think I described Sandy as ordinary a couple of days ago. That descriptive should not denote she was unattractive, because she was anything but. With a runner’s physique at 32 years of age, she stood 5’-7”, highlighted by steel-blue eyes, a warm and welcoming smile, and her usual tight ponytail of rich auburn hair. What was ordinary about her was her life.
Living with her best friend, Melissa (Mel) Merriweather, since high school, another runner of basically the same dimensions, only 3” taller with a head of chopped blonde hair, not spiked…but chopped. They shared the market with brilliant blue eyes and are quick with a smile. Mel was a year older, and she swore wiser, who was nevertheless ordinary in her own right. She had not planned to retire at 33, but the inheritance from Marcus T. Hawthorne III and his estate made early retirement an option too good to pass up. Getting a job could come later. For now, she was coasting and enjoying a slow life except for the moments when Sandy was in a crisis.
Three months before the party, things began to change in Sandy’s life. Finding that damn book, as she refers to Mirror Mirror, was a fluke. The title caught her eye, and whatever caused that to grab her attention owned Sandy; she just didn’t know it yet. The inscription on the inside cover page gave her pause.
Whoever possesses this book shall have exclusive control of all reflective powers that flow forth when called upon in good stead by the righteous.
Did holding the damn book in her hands count as possession? She didn’t think so and reread the inscription in an attempt to make sense of it. What are reflective powers? Flow forth from where? What is good stead? And what about the unrighteous? She knew her past and what had happened with Fantastic Phil, wondering if that kind of thing made you unrighteous. And who gets to decide?
When she touched the mirror, it turned purple and the surface became warm, no longer reflective; instead, it projected a quivering shape as a very male voice called her by name. Her question of who gets to decide began to crystallize, leaving her with an uneasy sense that she did not possess the book…it possessed her. The image was other-worldly, somewhat human in shape, but its proportions were undefined due to the ebb and flow of the form’s edges.
Part of her wanted to be afraid and flee, but something held her fast; its voice, quite male and resonant, had a calming effect. Calm, however, was not in Sandy’s future, but then timelines blur, and who knows which future she’s in or which parallel universe? Yeah, not a lot of calm on the horizon for Sandra Tillman.
*****
“Mirror Mirror” is available on Amazon – https://bit.ly/3C4qWqK
Book Review: https://bit.ly/4kyP5tq
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