Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

I turned to the large mirror hanging on my bedroom wall and stared at myself in disgust. My once curly, dark brown hair appeared lifeless and greasy. My hazelnut eyes had lost their twinkle, my skin was dirty and covered in blemishes. What had happened to my once admired beauty? I asked myself again and again. It wasn’t worth it though, I already knew the answer to my own pointless question. It was I who had made my own beauty disappear and fade away on purpose.

I sighed. Then I reached over and picked up yet another apple tart and shoved it in my mouth. Although it pained me to do so, I swallowed the sweet dessert as quickly as I could. Even though I knew that I was poisoning myself by over-eating, doing so had started to make me feel slightly relieved and satisfied. I knew that by making myself appear ugly, I was doing myself a favor. I was hiding my appearance beneath a mask to protect myself, and I felt safer that way.

I sat still for a few moments and then pulled the drawer of my dressing table open. I waved my hands over the contents of the drawer, found what I was looking for, and pulled it out. It was a photograph of my mother a few days before she passed away. How marvelous she looked in her lace gown and diamond jewelry.

Her skin glowed, her hair framed her face perfectly, her eyes twinkled. I’d say that she was the most beautiful lady in the whole of Formosa. I stared at the photograph for a few seconds, held it to my chest and then put it back into the drawer.

My aunt, the current Queen of Formosa, had every single photo of my mother burned after she passed away. She never said why, but I think it’s because she misses her too much. I possess the only photograph left of my mother, Queen Amarina.

Many had told me that I had my mother’s looks and beauty and would one day be the most beautiful lady in the kingdom of Formosa, but I knew I wouldn’t be. In my eyes, no one in the world could replace my mother as the fairest of them all. Not even my Aunt Zara.

She tries hard, though. She bathes everyday in water with rose petals and has all of the latest beauty potions delivered to the castle for her to try. She braids her hair and ties it into a perfect bun on the top of her head. She wears a diamond tiara and a blue silk gown, adorned with green and silver crystals. A heavy sapphire necklace hangs on her neck and several beaded bracelets wrap around her wrists.

Then, every morning, after she gets dressed, she enters her chambers and speaks to her magic mirror.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who is the fairest of them all?”  she asks.

“Your Excellency, you are the fairest of them all.”

She smiles, satisfied.

Then she leaves her chambers to attend to her daily duties. She had been getting the same response from her mirror for many years, until I turned sixteen years-old. I sighed and tried to remember the day of my sixteenth birthday as well as I could.

It was a normal Tuesday morning. It was the morning of Princess Meredith’s birthday. The Queen Zara had finished dressing in her party attire and had left to her chambers to speak to her magic mirror.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who is the fairest of them all?” she asked, waiting for the usual response from her magic mirror.

“Your Excellency, I see the young princess is more fair than thee.”

The queen glared at the mirror and stamped her foot on the ground.

The Princess Meredith had been standing outside of the Queen’s chambers, waiting for her to finish her business. She had heard the entire conversation between the Queen and her mirror.

The Queen was furious. She threw her hairbrush on the floor. Princess Meredith watched the brush as it crashed to the ground and broke in half.

The Princess was frightened of her Aunt and what she might do to her. So from that day forward, she vowed to make herself as unattractive as possible.

She ran down the corridor, into her own chambers, and slammed the door behind her. She sat down at her dressing table and began wiping off all of her make-up. She untied her dark brown hair, which was tied up in a neat bun, and let it fall down onto her shoulders. She then pulled open the drawer of her dressing table and pulled out a shining pair of sharp scissors.

Then, without any guidelines, she began to cut her hair off in big bunches. Tears streamed down her face as she watched her beautiful brown hair fall from her head to the ground beneath her.

The Princess wiped her tears away and got up from the stool. She walked over to the pearly-white closet in the corner of her bedroom, opened the door and took out her favorite blue ball gown. Then, she sat down on the floor and ,with the pair of scissors, started to cut up the sparkling dress. She did this again and again until there was only one ball gown left in the closet.

Meredith turned to face herself in the mirror that hung upon her wall. She looked pale without her make-up, her hair was cut un-evenly and her hands were covered in wounds after cutting through all of her dresses. She looked as if she was a soldier coming back from a brutal war. Yet, the Princess felt safer, more relaxed that way.

Meredith left her room and began walking down the corridor to the ballroom, where her birthday party was taking place. She pushed the large golden doors open and went inside the spacious, well-furnished ballroom, filled with people laughing, dancing and eating. The door made a loud noise, making everybody turn around in surprise.

Queen Zara took one look at Princess Meredith’s new style and grinned. Now she, Queen Zara would definitely be the fairest of them all.